> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bullished.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Affirm's Levchin Calls Credit 'Job Number Zero' And Sets Growth Floor At 30% - URL: https://www.bullished.co/affirms-levchin-calls-credit-job-number-zero-and-sets-growth-floor-at-30-ac6a7082/ - Published: 2026-11-06T08:09:54.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-06T08:09:54.000Z - Description: The CEO answered credit worries on the earnings call, saying the business is growing at a high 30s rate in the first month of the second quarter. - Author: Matteo Parrino - Tags: Earnings, AFRM, Industry: Financials [Affirm](https://www.bullished.co/tag/afrm/) founder and CEO Max Levchin opened the company's first-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings call with a one-line joke about the market's rough week, then used analyst questions to defend credit quality and promise [at least 30% growth](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/affirm-holdings-inc-afrm-q1-071836664.html?.tsrc=rss&ref=bullished.co) this year. Affirm, which offers buy now, pay later loans, saw the call's prepared remarks shrink to a single sentence. ## A one-line script and a growth floor Levchin's entire prepared remarks: "We had a blue tsunami on Tuesday and a red wedding today." He then sent the call straight to questions. Pressed on how long Affirm can keep growing in the mid-30s, he said a key part of his job is finding a way to grow at 30-plus percent. Affirm is under 4% of e-commerce and live in four markets, he said, so "it's ours to screw up." The full-year outlook, he said, is a floor, not a range: "That floor now starts with a three as well." Affirm is signing up for at least 30% growth this year, and the business is growing at a high 30s rate in the first month of the second quarter. An analyst noted gross merchandise volume grew 34% in the first quarter; Levchin said growth in September and early in the second quarter was "much north" of that. ## Credit: "job number zero" An analyst from William Blair asked whether the market's reaction reflected fears that credit could weigh on the business. Levchin pointed to average loan terms that are short enough that Affirm can deal with any overexposure in less than 90 days. "Credit is job number zero," he said, adding that a third of the company is involved in managing it. On the provision for credit losses, Levchin said Affirm ran experiments in approvals and originations, localized to September, and kept those loans on its balance sheet, which lifted provision expense. He said the quarter's revenue less transaction costs take rate of 4.3% justified the choice. President Michael Linford said an asset-backed securities deal Affirm had in the market priced at more than four times subscribed, despite what he called one of the worst stretches for equity capital markets since COVID. ## Underwriting model and card offers Levchin said Affirm's new transformer-based underwriting model performed twice as well as the best traditional candidate at separating good risk from bad. That means approving roughly two to three points more people, he said, with essentially no incremental loss. Card-specific financing offers will start appearing in days, if not weeks, he said. Asked about Affirm Edge, which would put Affirm into banks' debit cards, an analyst cited the shareholder letter as saying the first bank pilots go live in the first half of next calendar year. Linford said there was nothing to announce and that "patience is the code word." Linford's read on Edge was that partners "don't move exceptionally fast" and will set the pace. Learn - [How To Read An Earnings Call Transcript: Start With Guidance, Then Find What's Missing →](https://www.bullished.co/learn/how-to-read-an-earnings-call/) How to read an earnings call transcript: check guidance first, look for dropped metrics, compare growth with last quarter, and watch hedged wording. ### Sources - [Affirm Holdings Inc (AFRM) (Q1 2027) Earnings Call Highlights: 34% GMV Growth, AI Underwriting ...](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/affirm-holdings-inc-afrm-q1-071836664.html?.tsrc=rss&ref=bullished.co) — Yahoo Finance - [Affirm Holdings (AFRM) Q1 Earnings: How Key Metrics Compare to Wall Street Estimates](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/affirm-holdings-afrm-q1-earnings-223002509.html?.tsrc=rss&ref=bullished.co) — Yahoo Finance - [Affirm Stock: Earnings Beat. Shares Fall As Consumer Credit Quality Worsens. | Investor's Business Daily](https://www.investors.com/news/technology/affirm-stock-q3-2026-earnings-afrm/?ref=bullished.co) — investors.com - [Affirm Holdings (AFRM) Q1 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/affirm-holdings-afrm-q1-earnings-212002246.html?.tsrc=rss&ref=bullished.co) — Yahoo Finance - [Affirm Earnings: Net Income Doubles on Margin Expansion and Strong Volume | Morningstar](https://www.morningstar.com/company-reports/1508737-affirm-earnings-net-income-doubles-on-margin-expansion-and-strong-volume?ref=bullished.co) — morningstar.com ### More on Affirm Holdings - [Affirm CEO Max Levchin's Pay Hits $25.9 Million After His Pre-IPO Award Runs Out](https://www.bullished.co/affirm-ceo-max-levchins-pay-hits-25-9-million-after-his-pre-ipo-award-runs-out-463c66fb/) [All Affirm Holdings (AFRM) coverage →](https://www.bullished.co/tag/afrm/)