Sezzle Inc. SEZL shares entered August carrying high expectations, but the sharp post-earnings reset has changed the investment setup. The company had already attracted attention in 2026 with rapid subscriber growth, rising profitability and an expanding set of financial products. After the recent correction, investors have a different question to consider: whether the lower share price now offers a better entry into a business that is still delivering growth well above that of many payments peers.
SEZL closed at $178.53 on Aug. 6 before plunging nearly 34% on Aug. 7 following its second-quarter report. The selling pressure did not mark the end of the story. Shares subsequently recovered and jumped 8.7% on Aug. 11 to $128.27. Even after that rebound, SEZL remained roughly 28% below its pre-results close. The move has been far more dramatic than recent trading in PayPal PYPL, while Shift4 Payments FOUR has also experienced earnings-related volatility. The correction has removed a meaningful part of the valuation risk that surrounded Sezzle before the report.
The reset makes the investment case more interesting. Sezzle continues to grow considerably faster than PayPal and has a different growth profile from Shift4 Payments, while its expanding subscriber base, high engagement and new products could support further earnings gains. Credit costs and execution remain worth watching, but the current share price offers a better balance between growth potential and valuation than it did before earnings.
Year-to-date Price Performance
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Sezzle's Growth Story Remains Strong
Sezzle's second-quarter results showed that the underlying business has not lost momentum. Gross merchandise volume increased 37.9% year over year to a record $1.3 billion, while total revenues climbed 51.7% to $149.7 million. Net income rose to $40.8 million, representing a 27.2% margin, and adjusted EBITDA reached $58 million with a 38.8% margin. Total revenue less transaction-related costs represented 63.5% of revenues, placing the metric near the upper end of management's 55%-65% target range.
The customer metrics make the growth story even stronger. Active subscribers increased 76.4% year over year to 854,000, while Sezzle added a record 140,000 net new subscribers during the quarter. Average quarterly purchase frequency reached 7.2 times, up from 6.1 times in the prior-year period. This combination suggests Sezzle is benefiting from both a larger customer base and deeper engagement among existing users, giving it more than one driver of revenue growth.
Higher Marketing Spending Holds Potential
Marketing expense climbed to $19.4 million during the second quarter as Sezzle deliberately tested how aggressively it could invest in customer acquisition. The encouraging part is that management said the payback period remained below its six-month threshold. Sezzle intends to reduce core marketing spending sequentially in the third quarter, although spending tied to newer products could partly offset that decline. This suggests management is pursuing growth without abandoning its return requirements.
This ability to add customers profitably helps distinguish Sezzle from larger peers. PayPal has far greater scale and a more mature payments ecosystem, while Shift4 Payments has broader exposure to merchant acquiring and payment processing. Sezzle's advantage is its current pace of expansion. If it can continue converting marketing dollars into subscribers with short payback periods, the company can sustain a growth rate that justifies some premium over slower-growing payments businesses.
Raised Guidance Could Still Prove Conservative
Management lifted its 2026 revenue-growth forecast to 35%, effectively moving to the top of the previous 30%-35% range. Adjusted net income guidance increased to $185 million from $180 million, while adjusted diluted EPS guidance rose to $5.25 from $5.10. Raising both top- and bottom-line expectations after a quarter of elevated marketing investment is a positive signal about the underlying economics of the business.
There may also be upside that is not fully captured in those numbers. Management said the guidance includes very little contribution from SezzleCash and no contribution from Sezzle Send. Nearly 10% of eligible new Sezzle Anywhere subscribers were already requesting a SezzleCash advance as their first transaction, while Sezzle Send had attracted about 100,000 people to its waitlist ahead of launch. If adoption develops without materially weakening credit performance, these products could create another leg of growth.
SEZL’s Estimate Revisions Depict a Bright Outlook
Over the past week, earnings estimates for both 2026 and 2027 have been revised upward, signaling a bullish outlook from analysts. These figures also suggest year-over-year growth of 45.96% and 27.10%, respectively.
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The Pullback Makes Valuation More Appealing
The biggest improvement in the investment argument may simply be the price investors now have to pay. The stock trades at 6.31X forward 12-month sales per share versus 5.20X for the Zacks sub-industry. On the other hand, PYPL trades at 1.42X forward 12-month sales per share, while FOUR trades near 1.19X forward 12-month sales per share.
This is still not a bargain multiple in isolation, but it looks much more reasonable for a company targeting 35% revenue growth while producing strong profitability. The multiple is also substantially less demanding than it was immediately before second-quarter earnings.
Valuation
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Sezzle's faster subscriber and revenue growth gives investors something different from either PYPL or FOUR. If earnings continue to compound quickly, today's valuation could become increasingly reasonable rather than expensive.
SEZL: Credit Is the Main Issue
Credit performance remains the most important counterweight to the bullish case. Management expects the provision for credit losses to equal 2.5%-3% of GMV for 2026 and expects normal seasonal increases during the second half. Rapid user acquisition can also increase provisions because newer customers generally produce higher loss rates than established users.
Still, management said it was not seeing an underlying deterioration in repayment behavior or consumer credit health. Sezzle also finished the second quarter with more than $205 million of liquidity, while total debt to trailing-12-month adjusted EBITDA was only 0.5 times. This financial position gives the company room to invest in growth while absorbing normal fluctuations in credit costs.
What Should Investors Do With SEZL Now?
The market's initial reaction to the second quarter appears more severe than the change in Sezzle's business outlook. Revenues, GMV, subscribers and earnings remain on a strong upward path, while management raised its 2026 forecasts despite heavier marketing spending. New products provide additional upside that is barely included in guidance.
The rebound on Tuesday also suggests some investors are already reassessing the selloff. SEZL carries volatility and credit risk, but the pullback from its Aug. 6 close has improved the potential reward relative to those risks. For investors comfortable with fintech volatility, the current level looks increasingly attractive for building exposure.
At present, SEZL sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).