NEW YORK, March 24, 2026, 10:49 EDT
SoFi Technologies, Inc. slipped 50.5 cents to around $16.65 early Tuesday, despite Mizuho’s Dan Dolev coming to the online lender’s defense after short seller Muddy Waters Research leveled accusations.
Investors kept selling, signaling they still viewed the short-seller fight as a continuing risk rather than a blip. That’s a problem for SoFi, which only just posted fourth-quarter 2025 net revenue of $1.0 billion and net income of $174 million, with membership now at 13.7 million. The numbers put a spotlight back on how SoFi records asset sales and handles credit loss accounting.
Dolev, writing Tuesday, argued that “Muddy Waters’ main claims could likely be refuted using SoFi’s public disclosures.” According to him, SoFi had described the $312 million JPMorgan deal as a sale of senior secured loans — not as concealed borrowing. On SoFi’s student-loan discount rate, he pointed to the fact that those loans average about four years, suggesting shorter-term funding costs are the more relevant benchmark.
On March 17, Muddy Waters alleged that SoFi was carrying at least $312 million in unreported debt. SoFi fired back that same day, describing the short seller’s claims as “factually inaccurate and misleading,” adding that the report showed a “fundamental lack of understanding” of its financial statements. The company also said it was weighing legal action.
Chief Executive Anthony Noto picked up 28,900 shares on March 17, paying a weighted average of $17.3189 per share, according to an SEC filing. That move pushes his direct stake to roughly 11.7 million shares. Notably, the buy landed on the same day Muddy Waters revealed its short position.
It wasn’t just SoFi under pressure—Affirm, Upstart, and LendingClub all traded lower on Tuesday, reflecting wider selling across consumer-finance and fintech stocks. Still, SoFi faced a new, company-specific controversy that set it apart.
Charge-offs—loans lenders have given up trying to collect—are a sticking point. Muddy Waters pegs SoFi’s personal-loan charge-off rate at roughly 6.1%. Dolev, on the other hand, pointed to company disclosures and management remarks that back a lower number, closer to 4.4%.
But unless that debate gets put to rest in a more definitive way, the stock might stay stuck. SoFi was trading around $16.65—barely above the $16.48 low it touched after the short report dropped. Those lingering concerns about loan-sale accounting and credit quality clearly haven’t let go of the shares.
