Stock Markets February 9, 2026

SoFi Shares Tick Higher After Citizens Upgrade, Analyst Sees More Than 40% Upside

Citizens' Devin Ryan raises rating and highlights monetization and under-modeled growth optionality

By Avery Klein SOFI
SoFi Shares Tick Higher After Citizens Upgrade, Analyst Sees More Than 40% Upside
SOFI

SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) climbed 2.9% in early trading after Citizens analyst Devin Ryan upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Market Outperform and set a $30.00 price target. Ryan says recent selling reflects style and technical pressures rather than weakening macro fundamentals and points to member growth, product cross-sell and a shift toward fee-based, capital-light revenue as drivers of long-term compounding.

Key Points

  • Citizens analyst Devin Ryan upgraded SoFi from Market Perform to Market Outperform and set a $30.00 price target.
  • SoFi shares rose 2.9% after the upgrade; the stock has retraced to around $21, roughly 20% lower year-to-date from highs above $30 in late 2025.
  • Ryan highlighted member and product-driven compounding, improved platform monetization, and diversification into fee-based, capital-light revenues, and flagged under-modeled optionality in blockchain, AI, business banking and new loan platform products.

SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) saw its shares rise 2.9% Monday morning following an upgrade from Citizens analyst Devin Ryan. Ryan moved his rating from Market Perform to Market Outperform and set a price target of $30.00.

Ryan noted that the stock has pulled back to roughly $21, a decline of about 20% year-to-date after trading above $30 in late 2025. His $30.00 target implies potential upside in excess of 40% from the current share level.

"We believe the market’s recent risk-off rotation has penalized higher-growth/’speculative- adjacent’ narratives,"

In his written analysis, Ryan attributed much of the recent weakness to style factor compression and other technical market dynamics rather than to immediate macroeconomic concerns. That distinction underpins Citizens' decision to raise the rating, with the analyst viewing the pullback as an opportunity to invest in SoFi's expanding franchise.

Ryan highlighted several operational characteristics that support his more constructive stance. He cited SoFi's capacity to compound at scale through rising member counts and an expanding product mix while improving platform monetization. He also pointed to the company's progress diversifying revenue toward fee-based and capital-light streams.

Beyond core consumer finance trends, the upgrade draws attention to what Citizens describes as "under-modeled optionality" across several nascent growth areas. Those areas include blockchain initiatives, artificial intelligence applications, business banking and new loan platform products. Citizens' view is that these optionalities are not fully captured in the current share price.

The upgrade from Market Perform to Market Outperform and the accompanying price target reflect Citizens' assessment that recent market dynamics - specifically a rotation away from higher-growth narratives - have created a valuation window for investors who accept the firm's view on SoFi's multi-product growth trajectory.


Context note: The analyst commentary frames the move as driven by style and technical factors rather than near-term macro worries, and it emphasizes platform monetization, member and product expansion, and a shift toward fee-based, capital-light revenues as central to SoFi's thesis.

Risks

  • Ongoing market risk-off rotation or continued style factor pressure could keep higher-growth or speculative-adjacent names, including SoFi, underperforming despite company-specific progress - this impacts equity markets and fintech sector sentiment.
  • Technical selling and factor-driven compression may persist, creating volatility that could delay valuation recovery even if SoFi's fundamentals progress - this affects equity investors and fintech capital markets.
  • Uncertainty remains around the extent to which under-modeled optionality in areas like blockchain and artificial intelligence will translate into measurable revenue or valuation uplift; this uncertainty affects technology-linked revenue expectations within the fintech sector.

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