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This morning, news broke that the fast-credit fintech company Klarna has deposed its competitor Affirm as Walmarts exclusive provider of “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) loans. Affirm stock (AFRM) dove over 10% Monday morning following the news, before regaining some of those losses. Shares are currently down around 5% as of this writing. According to a press release published this morning, Klarna will be partnering with Walmarts majority-owned fintech startup, OnePay, to exclusively offer installment loans for purchases at Walmart in the United States. The partnership will be available both online and in stores, and will roll out at Walmart checkout this year. Klarnas BPNL services will allow consumers to pay for items purchased at Walmart in installments, with repayment terms ranging from 3 to 26 months. Based on a January report from Capital One, Walmart is the worlds largest retailer above competitors like Amazonmeaning Klarna is about to become a lot more visible to consumers. “This is a game changer, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarnas cofounder and CEO, said in the press release. OnePay choosing Klarna as their exclusive installment loans partner at Walmart in the U.S. is a huge vote of confidence as we pursue our goal of being available everywhere for everything. A big week for Klarnaand a rough one for Affirm Walmarts former exclusive BNPL partner was Affirm, Klarnas main rival in the spaceand investors seem to think that the major new deal isnt looking so good for Affirm. In a statement cited by Bloomberg, Affirm shared that its former partnership with Walmart represented about 5% of its gross merchandise volume and approximately 2% of its adjusted operating income in the six months through December. Meanwhile, Klarna is riding high, given that news of its Walmart deal comes just days after the company filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to an initial proposed public offering, a sign that Klarnas IPO could be coming sooner than expected. Although Klarna has not yet set an official IPO date, it’s now one of the most highly anticipated fintech IPOs this year.
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E-Commerce
Shares of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) rose over 8% in early morning trading on Monday on news that incoming CEO Lip-Bu Tan has big plans to turn around the ailing chipmaker, including restructuring the company’s approach to AI, resurrecting its manufacturing operations, and eyeing cuts to what Tan views as a “slow-moving and bloated middle management layer,” according to a Reuters report. Tan said he’ll need to make “tough decisions” when he takes Intel’s helm on Tuesday, after the company posted $19 billion in annual losses in 2024. Tan’s appointment comes three months after the company ousted former CEO Pat Gelsinger, as it struggled after missing out on the generative artificial intelligence boom and losing market share to Nvidia and AMD. One problem with Gelsinger’s leadership, a semiconductor industry expert told Reuters, was that Gelsinger was “too nice” and did not want to “fire a bunch of middle management in the way they needed to.” The Reuters report also said Intel could have architecture ready for an AI chip by 2027, and would plan to release a new version of it each subsequent year. This would be a big coup for Intel, which is lagging behind Nvidia and Broadcom (AVGO) in the AI hardware market. In the past several quarters, Intel has lost market share in data centers and PCs, and lost billions in its manufacturing business. Tan also plans to restart production of chips that power AI servers, and expand beyond servers into software, robotics, and AI foundation models, per Reuters. Tan’s appointment comes amid ongoing reports that Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) are among several investors in talks to divide the ailing chipmakers business into two parts, spinning out its chip-design and marketing business and its manufacturing arm. However, Tan has indicated he wont split up the company. Tan was a member of Intel’s board until he resigned last August. He spent a decade as CEO of Cadence Design Systems, an Intel supplier and chip-design software company, where he doubled revenue and sent the stock price soaring.
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E-Commerce
Bumble rolled out a handful of new safety features on Monday, including ID verification, in an attempt to draw in a new class of users who are focused on safety. ID verification requests a government-issued ID to authenticate the user’s age and name and then adds a badge indicating they are who they say they are on their profile. Users can then filter profiles by both photo verification and ID verification. ID verification is now available in 11 markets, including the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with plans to expand further. Another safety-focused feature, Review Before You Send, addresses the messaging section, where users often receive inappropriate content. Originally launched for the Compliments feature, it prompts users to revise flagged messages before theyre sent. In addition, the company is launching a new “Share Date” feature that lets users share details about their dates with selected contacts. The safety efforts could help Bumble bring users to its namesake dating app at a time when the broader dating industry is dealing with post-COVID slumps, generational changes in dating behavior, and AI making it harder than ever to tell who is real or fake. Bumble, whose founder Whitney Wolfe Herd is back in the helm after leaving the post a little over a year ago, is pushing to revitalize the dating and social connection company. Bumble reported a 3.8% decline in quarterly app revenue in its most recent earnings report. Bumble’s biggest rival Match Group is also feeling the pressure. The company, which owns Hinge, Tinder, and other star dating apps, recently swapped out chief executives. The company’s new leader, Spencer Rascoff, sent employees a note last week that called for increased focus on product and user experience. Rascoff said that going forward, users need to be at the core of every choice. Every product decision, policy, and innovation must be guided by their experience and outcomes, he said. Trust is the foundation of real connections, and we are committed to rebuilding it with urgency, accountability, and an unwavering focus on the user.
Category:
E-Commerce
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