Why has Buffett invested in ALLY?
Having invested $1.7B since 2012 in the industry giant, General Motors, you could say Buffet is an expert on the auto industry. Which helps explain why Buffett took an interest in Ally.
This fintech company offers multiple services but specializes in the auto loan industry since it once was a financing division of GM, originally known as GMAC. After GM sold the rest of its 8.5% stake in Ally for $900M in 2013, Ally has expanded its market by offering mortgages, credit cards, wealth management, & other services.
Another reason Buffett is investing in ALLY could be its history of share buybacks. Buffett is a big believer in stock buybacks and has said they can be the best use of corporate capital. ALLY also offers quarterly dividends to shareholders, which is a sign of the company’s fundamental strength.
How does ALLY compare to SoFi?
The main difference is the source of Ally’s revenue. 65.6% of Ally’s total revenue in 2022 came from the auto finance industry, while SoFi’s edge is student loan refinancing. In 2019, SoFi generated 59.7% of its revenue from student loans. But it’s worth noting that it can be quite difficult to qualify for student loan refinancing if you have a bad credit score whereas it’s a bit easier for people to get auto loans.
How are Ally & SoFi similar?
Ally & SoFi both offer commission free stock trading for investors with a high APY as well. Ally’s savings account offers 3.60% APY and SoFi offers 3.75% APY with a direct deposit. This means that with a direct deposit, you’ll earn a higher APY with SoFi, but without one, you’d earn a higher APY with Ally.
Both companies offer multiple services such as mortgage loans, credit cards, insurance, etc. and are online banks with no physical locations. Given their different niches, it makes sense that Ally’s customers tend to be millennials while SoFi’s customers tend to be students or fresh graduates.
Conclusion:
So in conclusion, I think SOFI is in a fairly safe spot as long as the Supreme Court gives a favorable ruling. Since Nu Holdings operates in Latin America it won’t compete with SoFi for market share. Ally & SoFi also have different specializations but Ally is a more established FinTech company which could take customers from SoFi. Still, SOFI’s goal is to become a one stop shop for all financial services and it has diversified its services extensively over the years which could give it an edge in this industry.
Personally, I believe SOFI will be able to grow its customer base better than ALLY because it appeals directly to young adults heading into college. If these customers have a good experience, then SOFI can become their go-to financial service provider for the rest of their life.
On this note, the FinTech industry is on track for major growth especially since Covid-19 acted as a catalyst for the industry - leading to wider adoption at a time when contactless payments were becoming essential.
Besides this, the FinTech industry will likely continue to grow just out of sheer practicality. For one thing, Fintech cuts down servicing costs like maintaining physical branches while still providing a very high value service. As more and more transactions move online, the digital revolution continues to work in the industry’s favor and the widespread adoption of smartphones means that our phones will increasingly act as wallets. So it's not surprising that the use of Fintech companies increased 88% from 2020 to 2021.
$ALLY Technical Analysis:
ALLY was in a downward channel all of 2022 but it broke out at the start of 2023 - testing the $34 resistance after earnings. Since then the trend has reversed and is now bearish. The stock touched its $21.91 support mostly due to market turmoil rather than fundamentals.
I’m expecting ALLY to break out of this channel like it did at the start of this year when it approached the $34 support. The stock recently tested what was once the upper trendline and bounced off of it which is a bullish sign.
Personally, I think that these banking fears will dissipate now that the government has stepped in - as illustrated by the XLF closing green on Monday. Looking at the daily timeframe, ALLY is oversold with the RSI at 30 so I am expecting a bounce over the next few weeks.
Long-term, I think ALLY will trade in a sideways channel between the $23.80 support and $34 resistance until a strong catalyst is able to break it out.
But for now, I’ll take a swing here with a stop loss at $23 and my take profits at $27.05 and the 50MA.
Having invested $1.7B since 2012 in the industry giant, General Motors, you could say Buffet is an expert on the auto industry. Which helps explain why Buffett took an interest in Ally.
This fintech company offers multiple services but specializes in the auto loan industry since it once was a financing division of GM, originally known as GMAC. After GM sold the rest of its 8.5% stake in Ally for $900M in 2013, Ally has expanded its market by offering mortgages, credit cards, wealth management, & other services.
Another reason Buffett is investing in ALLY could be its history of share buybacks. Buffett is a big believer in stock buybacks and has said they can be the best use of corporate capital. ALLY also offers quarterly dividends to shareholders, which is a sign of the company’s fundamental strength.
How does ALLY compare to SoFi?
The main difference is the source of Ally’s revenue. 65.6% of Ally’s total revenue in 2022 came from the auto finance industry, while SoFi’s edge is student loan refinancing. In 2019, SoFi generated 59.7% of its revenue from student loans. But it’s worth noting that it can be quite difficult to qualify for student loan refinancing if you have a bad credit score whereas it’s a bit easier for people to get auto loans.
How are Ally & SoFi similar?
Ally & SoFi both offer commission free stock trading for investors with a high APY as well. Ally’s savings account offers 3.60% APY and SoFi offers 3.75% APY with a direct deposit. This means that with a direct deposit, you’ll earn a higher APY with SoFi, but without one, you’d earn a higher APY with Ally.
Both companies offer multiple services such as mortgage loans, credit cards, insurance, etc. and are online banks with no physical locations. Given their different niches, it makes sense that Ally’s customers tend to be millennials while SoFi’s customers tend to be students or fresh graduates.
Conclusion:
So in conclusion, I think SOFI is in a fairly safe spot as long as the Supreme Court gives a favorable ruling. Since Nu Holdings operates in Latin America it won’t compete with SoFi for market share. Ally & SoFi also have different specializations but Ally is a more established FinTech company which could take customers from SoFi. Still, SOFI’s goal is to become a one stop shop for all financial services and it has diversified its services extensively over the years which could give it an edge in this industry.
Personally, I believe SOFI will be able to grow its customer base better than ALLY because it appeals directly to young adults heading into college. If these customers have a good experience, then SOFI can become their go-to financial service provider for the rest of their life.
On this note, the FinTech industry is on track for major growth especially since Covid-19 acted as a catalyst for the industry - leading to wider adoption at a time when contactless payments were becoming essential.
Besides this, the FinTech industry will likely continue to grow just out of sheer practicality. For one thing, Fintech cuts down servicing costs like maintaining physical branches while still providing a very high value service. As more and more transactions move online, the digital revolution continues to work in the industry’s favor and the widespread adoption of smartphones means that our phones will increasingly act as wallets. So it's not surprising that the use of Fintech companies increased 88% from 2020 to 2021.
$ALLY Technical Analysis:
ALLY was in a downward channel all of 2022 but it broke out at the start of 2023 - testing the $34 resistance after earnings. Since then the trend has reversed and is now bearish. The stock touched its $21.91 support mostly due to market turmoil rather than fundamentals.
I’m expecting ALLY to break out of this channel like it did at the start of this year when it approached the $34 support. The stock recently tested what was once the upper trendline and bounced off of it which is a bullish sign.
Personally, I think that these banking fears will dissipate now that the government has stepped in - as illustrated by the XLF closing green on Monday. Looking at the daily timeframe, ALLY is oversold with the RSI at 30 so I am expecting a bounce over the next few weeks.
Long-term, I think ALLY will trade in a sideways channel between the $23.80 support and $34 resistance until a strong catalyst is able to break it out.
But for now, I’ll take a swing here with a stop loss at $23 and my take profits at $27.05 and the 50MA.
