Atlanticus Holdings (ATLC) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $803.26M
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 67.60K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 8.3
• Beta (1Y): 1.83
• Revenue Growth: 25.29%
• EPS Growth: 26.70%
• Country: US
• Employees: 417
• Sector: Financial
• Sector Strength: 70
• Industry: Financial - Credit Services
• EPS (TTM): 1.75
• Shares Outstanding: 14,919,417
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 89,910
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 67,598
• PEG Ratio: 0.34
• Price to Book (P/B): 1.56
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.51
• P/FCF Ratio: 1.60
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 8.20
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 5.53
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 3.47
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 14.10
• 1Y Price Target: $99.00
• Price Target Upside: 83.88% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 3
• EPS Forecast (FY): 8.89
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $3.09B

• Rating: 49 Neutral
• Price Target: $54.00 ▲(0.30% Upside)
• Action: Downgraded Date: 03/13/26
• Date: Action: Downgraded 03/13/26

The score is held back primarily by weakening 2025 fundamentals (compressed operating profitability and sharply higher leverage) and bearish price/momentum signals. These are partially offset by a positive earnings-call backdrop emphasizing scale-driven growth, liquidity, and expected Mercury-related accretion, while valuation cannot be assessed reliably from the provided P/E and dividend data.

Positive Factors

Scale from Mercury Acquisition

The Mercury acquisition materially increased scale and customer count, creating durable operating leverage in underwriting, servicing and marketing. Larger receivables and customer base lower per-account costs and improve cross-sell and funding bargaining power as integration progresses through 2027–28.

Strong Top-Line & Origination Growth

Rapid revenue and origination growth reflect proven consumer demand and distribution effectiveness. Durable expansion in accounts and purchase volume supports future interest and fee income streams, enabling scale-based margin improvement once integration and seasoning complete.

Robust Liquidity & Financing Capacity

Substantial cash and committed warehouse lines provide lasting funding flexibility for originations and securitizations, reducing refinancing risk. This liquidity cushion supports growth and portfolio actions while the company seasons acquired receivables and navigates funding cycles.

Negative Factors

Very High Leverage

Leverage near 10x materially reduces balance sheet flexibility in a credit-services business that is exposed to cyclical credit losses and funding cost increases. High debt amplifies downside risk if delinquencies rise or funding becomes pricier, limiting strategic optionality.

Profitability Deterioration

A sharp step-down in operating profitability and negative EBITDA signal weaker earnings quality and higher volatility. Even with positive net income, a much thinner net margin (~6%) versus prior mid-20s trends reduces the company's resilience to credit and funding shocks over the medium term.

Higher Expenses and Delayed Synergies

Elevated operating costs from portfolio scale, personnel and marketing, combined with an ~18-month timeline to realize Mercury synergies, compress near-term margins. Prolonged integration and upfront expense loads can delay durable accretion and strain cash-flow coverage of the enlarged debt base.

Atlanticus Holdings Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation provides credit and related financial services and products to customers the United States. It operates in two segments, Credit as a Service, and Auto Finance. The Credit as a Service segment originates a range of consumer loan products, such as private label and general purpose credit cards originated by lenders through various channels, including retail and healthcare, direct mail solicitation, digital marketing, and partnerships with third parties; and offers credit to their customers for the purchase of various goods and services, including consumer electronics, furniture, elective medical procedures, healthcare, educational services, and home-improvements by partnering with retailers and service providers. In addition, it offers loan servicing, such as risk management and customer service outsourcing for third parties; and engages in testing and investment activities in consumer finance technology platforms. The Auto Finance segment purchases and/or services loans secured by automobiles from or for a pre-qualified network of independent automotive dealers and automotive finance companies in the buy-here, pay-here, and used car business. This segment also provides floor plan financing and installment lending products. Further, the company invests in and services portfolios of credit card receivables. Atlanticus Holdings Corporation was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

How the Company Makes Money

Atlanticus primarily makes money by originating and managing consumer credit accounts and earning economics tied to those balances and transactions. Key revenue streams include: (1) Finance charges and interest income: the company earns interest and finance charges on revolving credit card receivables and other consumer loan balances it holds or has an economic interest in, net of funding costs when applicable. (2) Fee-based revenue: it earns various account- and transaction-related fees associated with its credit programs (for example, certain cardholder fees and other program fees), subject to the terms of each program and applicable regulations. (3) Program and servicing/other income: where Atlanticus provides underwriting, analytics, marketing, and servicing functions for credit programs, it may earn program-related income tied to portfolio performance, servicing, and other contractual arrangements. (4) Ancillary/other revenue: the company may generate additional income from related products or activities connected to its consumer credit operations. Partnerships and channel relationships (such as merchant/retail partners and payments network participation for card products) can influence account acquisition, transaction volume, and portfolio growth, which in turn drive interest/fee income and overall earnings. null

Atlanticus Holdings Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Financial profile weakened in 2025: revenue and free cash flow grew, but operating profitability deteriorated sharply (near-breakeven EBIT and negative EBITDA) and leverage increased materially, reducing resilience despite still-positive net income.

Income Statement

Results are mixed and increasingly volatile. Annual revenue surged in 2025 (vs. 2024), but profitability quality deteriorated sharply: operating profit essentially collapsed (near breakeven EBIT) and EBITDA turned meaningfully negative, even though the company still reported positive net income with a much thinner net margin (~6%) than in 2021–2024 (generally mid-20% to high-30% range). Earlier years show strong profitability and healthy margins, but the 2025 step-change suggests either a major business mix shift or elevated costs/credit-related pressures that weaken earnings stability.

Balance Sheet

Leverage is the key concern. Total debt rose substantially in 2025 and the debt-to-equity level moved from already-high (~5x in 2021–2024) to very high (~9.6x), reducing balance-sheet flexibility in a credit-services business that can face cyclical losses. Equity grew, and return on equity remains positive (high-teens in 2025), but the combination of heavy leverage and rapid balance-sheet expansion increases risk if credit performance or funding costs move against the company.

Cash Flow

Cash generation remains a relative positive: operating cash flow and free cash flow were strong and grew in 2025, and free cash flow roughly matched reported net income. The main weakness is that cash flow covered only a small portion of total debt in 2025 (coverage dropped sharply versus prior years), meaning the company’s larger debt load is now supported by a thinner cash-flow cushion despite solid absolute cash generation.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	1.97B	459.57M	365.68M	374.42M	453.93M
Gross Profit	1.80B	283.03M	254.19M	291.31M	363.34M
EBITDA	467.42M	143.76M	132.60M	154.12M	222.07M
Net Income	122.20M	111.30M	102.84M	135.60M	177.90M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	7.62B	3.27B	2.71B	2.39B	1.94B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	767.41M	375.42M	339.34M	384.98M	409.66M
Total Debt	6.54B	2.51B	2.03B	1.82B	1.43B
Total Liabilities	6.98B	2.78B	2.31B	2.06B	1.66B
Stockholders Equity	648.70M	492.91M	394.68M	326.41M	288.00M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	632.94M	467.62M	455.32M	341.28M	205.28M
Operating Cash Flow	637.96M	469.40M	459.32M	346.13M	212.37M
Investing Cash Flow	-1.51B	-747.03M	-672.20M	-680.78M	-475.02M
Financing Cash Flow	1.14B	393.61M	163.34M	261.25M	510.33M

Atlanticus Holdings Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 53.84
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For ATLC, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 53.84 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 53.81, below the 50-day MA of 55.87, and below the 200-day MA of 57.92, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.97 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 47.64 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 39.43 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for ATLC.

Atlanticus Holdings Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
EZPW	74 Outperform	$1.59B	6.71	12.48%	―	9.70%	26.63%
Sector *	68 Neutral	$18.00B	11.42	9.92%	3.81%	9.73%	1.22%
OPRT	64 Neutral	$190.91M	10.05	6.66%	―	-5.29%	―
RM	62 Neutral	$292.06M	8.66	12.12%	2.99%	9.63%	77.14%
WRLD	60 Neutral	$658.04M	-193.38	10.79%	―	2.31%	-27.81%
PRAA	53 Neutral	$683.32M	-2.27	-27.34%	―	13.89%	-899.50%
ATLC	49 Neutral	$803.26M	8.29	20.59%	―	25.29%	26.70%