NEW YORK, March 26, 2026, 12:50 PM EDT
SoFi Technologies dropped roughly 3.7% to $15.94 by midday Thursday, with traders still digesting last week’s short-seller attack alongside a strong rebuttal from Mizuho.
This shift is notable, as SoFi entered March riding a wave of momentum. The company logged $1 billion in adjusted fourth-quarter revenue in January—excluding certain items—while loan originations hit a record $10.5 billion. Executives then projected first-quarter adjusted net revenue of about $1.04 billion. Reuters
Muddy Waters Research, the short seller known for betting against stocks, alleged on March 17 that SoFi could be carrying as much as $312 million in undisclosed debt from a JPMorgan loan deal. The firm also cast doubt on SoFi’s student loan discount rate and raised concerns over the lender’s reported charge-off numbers—the amount SoFi doesn’t expect to recover. Reuters
SoFi fired back that same day, blasting the report as “factually inaccurate and misleading” and adding that it’s considering legal options. According to the company, Muddy Waters displayed a “fundamental lack of understanding” of SoFi’s business and financials. SoFi Investors
Mizuho’s Dan Dolev acknowledged this week that the short report packed in “an impressive amount of detail and analysis,” but said its claims “could likely be refuted using SoFi’s public disclosures.” The firm stuck with its Outperform rating and a $38 target, backing SoFi’s account that the contested JPMorgan deal was a sale of senior secured loans—not covert borrowing. Investing.com
Anthony Noto, the chief executive, made a move of his own, snapping up 28,900 shares on March 17 at a weighted average price of $17.3189, according to a Form 4. His directly held stake climbs to over 11.7 million shares. SEC
Thursday’s decline outpaced several peers. Upstart slipped roughly 2.5%, LendingClub gave up 1.8%, and Affirm barely budged. The Invesco QQQ Trust, tracking the Nasdaq-100, dropped around 1.5%.
The bigger danger here: this dispute might just drag on. If these allegations lead to wider scrutiny or push SoFi into devoting extra effort to fending off questions about its accounting, volatility could stick with the stock—even if underlying growth holds up. That’s just what the standoff implies so far, not a sure thing. Reuters
SoFi shares are still sliding, changing hands at $15.94—about 8% under the price CEO Noto just paid. Despite the latest insider buy and a favorable analyst call, neither has managed to erase the gap since Muddy Waters’ move. SEC
