Citizens announced an upgrade for SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI), raising its rating from Market Perform to Market Outperform and assigning a price target of $30.00. That target implies about 44% upside relative to the reference price of $20.86.
The upgrade comes as SoFi shares have pulled back to roughly $21, down about 20% year-to-date after trading above $30 in late 2025. The stock has shown wide price swings over the past year, moving in a 52-week range from $8.60 to $32.73.
In explaining its view, Citizens attributed the recent sell-off less to near-term macro concerns and more to a market-wide risk-off rotation that has penalized higher-growth and what the firm describes as "speculative-adjacent" narratives. Citizens sees that pullback as creating an entry point for investors, noting SoFi’s 35.6% revenue growth over the last twelve months as a key supporting metric.
The firm highlighted SoFi’s capacity to compound at scale by expanding both its member base and the number of products per member while continuing to monetize the platform. Citizens also drew attention to the company’s efforts to shift revenue mix toward fee-based and capital-light streams.
Beyond the core financial trajectory, Citizens pointed to a set of under-modeled optionalities that it believes add to the upside case. The firm listed blockchain, artificial intelligence, business banking, and a new loan platform among areas where optionality is being built.
Recent corporate results have provided additional data points. SoFi reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings that beat consensus: earnings per share of $0.13 versus an expected $0.11, and revenue of $1.03 billion compared with an expected $973.43 million.
Those results prompted a range of analyst responses. Mizuho reiterated an Outperform rating with a $38.00 price target and encouraged buying amid current share weakness. JPMorgan moved to upgrade SoFi from Neutral to Overweight and set a $31.00 price target following the post-earnings share decline. Needham lowered its price target to $33.00 from $36.00 but kept a Buy rating, citing strong performance in core lending.
In the same body of commentary, the reporting also notes Citizens in another context as having reiterated a Market Perform stance while emphasizing SoFi’s innovation and customer acquisition strengths. The inclusion of both an upgrade and a reiteration in the set of analyst notes reflects differing framings across the coverage universe; the record presented here does not resolve that apparent inconsistency.
Taken together, the recent upgrade, the quarter that topped expectations, and the spectrum of analyst responses paint a picture of a company with accelerating revenue, platform monetization progress, and several nascent growth initiatives - while also operating in a market environment that has been punishing of higher-growth narratives.
Investors and market participants will likely weigh the company’s reported top-line momentum and the under-modeled optionality against the broader market’s appetite for growth-oriented financial technology names.