Why This Fintech Giant Trading Under $20 Might Be Your Best Stocks Opportunity Right Now

If you’ve been following Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management portfolio, you’ve probably noticed something: many of her picks are speculative, moonshot-type bets. SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI), however, is the outlier in this playbook. It’s a best stocks candidate that actually makes sense—and it’s still trading below $20 a share.

Here’s the thing most investors are missing: SoFi isn’t the struggling fintech it was a few years ago. The company has fundamentally transformed its business model, and the numbers prove it.

The Real Story Behind SoFi’s 2024 Performance

Wall Street tends to focus on headline growth rates, but 2024 revealed something much more important about SoFi: profitability without sacrificing expansion.

Yes, net revenue grew 26% year-over-year, but that’s almost beside the point. What matters is where that growth came from and—more importantly—how profitable it’s become.

SoFi operates across three revenue streams: lending, financial services, and technology applications. For years, lending dominated the picture, accounting for 55% of net revenue. But here’s where the narrative shifts.

The lending segment only grew 8% in 2024. That slowdown isn’t alarming when you understand the context: higher interest rates throughout most of 2024 suppressed demand for personal, student, and home loans. The Federal Reserve didn’t even begin easing rates until September. By late 2024, lending showed signs of rebounding, suggesting pent-up demand could drive acceleration in 2025.

But the real story? Financial services exploded. This segment—which includes checking and savings accounts, brokerage services, and credit cards—grew net revenue by a staggering 88% year-over-year, reaching $821 million. Even better: it shifted from cash-burning operations to a 37% contribution margin business.

That’s the transformation Cathie Wood likely spotted. SoFi stopped acting like a loss-leader startup and started operating like a scaled financial services provider.

The Profitability Question Isn’t As Complicated As It Looks

On paper, SoFi reported $499 million in GAAP net income for 2024. But here’s the catch—and here’s why understanding the details matters: approximately $272 million of that came from one-time tax benefits.

Strip away the noise, and SoFi’s core earnings are smaller than headline numbers suggest. This is why traditional valuation multiples (price-to-earnings) don’t work well for this company. You’d be overvaluing it.

Instead, look at price-to-book (P/B) and price-to-sales (P/S) multiples. These metrics compare SoFi directly to its closest competitor: Robinhood, another fintech powerhouse built on trading volume and net interest spreads.

Here’s where the disconnect emerges. Despite SoFi’s superior growth trajectory over the past several years, its P/B and P/S multiples trail Robinhood by significant margins. Translation: SoFi is trading at a discount relative to its growth performance and business momentum.

Why the Market Might Be Undervaluing SoFi Under $20

The financial services industry is increasingly competitive. Fintechs are consolidating, scaling, and proving their business models. SoFi has done exactly that.

The company is expanding both revenue and profits across its major segments simultaneously. It’s not growing at the expense of profitability—it’s doing both. That’s rare among best stocks in the fintech space, especially in companies trading under $20.

Compare this to other names in Cathie Wood’s portfolio: many are unprofitable startups with billion-dollar valuations despite questionable unit economics and erratic growth patterns. SoFi, by contrast, is a mature platform with diversified revenue, improving margins, and a clear path to sustained profitability.

The valuation gap between SoFi and its peers suggests investors haven’t fully priced in the company’s long-term potential. That’s an opportunity.

The Case for Now

Cathie Wood’s investment thesis often centers on identifying tomorrow’s disruptors before the mainstream recognizes them. SoFi fits that mold, but with a crucial difference: the disruption is already underway, and the financial results are visible.

For investors seeking best stocks opportunities without the extreme risk profile of pre-revenue biotechs or speculative AI plays, SoFi represents a more grounded approach. It’s still trading at a reasonable price point, still growing profitably, and still benefiting from industry tailwinds as fintech adoption accelerates.

At current levels, this appears to be the kind of entry point that rewards patient, long-term investors. The question isn’t whether SoFi will succeed—it already is. The question is whether you’ll notice before the market catches up.