The market may have dropped lower today, but that hasn't stopped the Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price from charging higher.
In afternoon trade the payments company's shares are up a sizeable 4.5% to $24.88, putting them within sight of their all-time high of $25.85.
Why is the Afterpay Touch share price racing higher?
Investors appear to have been buying Afterpay Touch's shares after quarterly updates by two of its peers revealed that momentum in the buy now, pay later industry remains strong.
This morning Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) revealed a 20% quarter on quarter increase in revenue to a record $23 million during the third quarter.
This was driven by a 143,000 or 14% increase in customer numbers since the end of the second quarter to 1.2 million and the addition of several key retailers to its platform. These include Chemist Warehouse, General Pants, and Lorna Jane.
Zip Co also entered the New Zealand market during the quarter and is working closely with Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) across the Tasman Sea.
Another positive that appears to have caught the eye of investors was that Zip Co's net bad debts reduced to 1.75% from 1.81% in the previous quarter. Management put this down to its market-leading credit performance.
Also releasing an update this morning was smaller rival Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT). Its shares have taken off today after announcing the addition of 57 new retailers to its platform to take its total to 437.
It also reported that it transacted with 42,000 new shoppers during the quarter, taking the total number of Unique Shoppers to 160,000 at the end of the period.
Whilst this is strong growth, it pales in comparison to the numbers being reported by Zip Co and Afterpay in 2019.
Should you invest in Afterpay, Splitit, or Zip Co?
I'm yet to be convinced that Splitit is worthy of an investment, but I firmly believe that Afterpay Touch and Zip Co could be great long-term investments even after their strong share price gains this year.
Though, they are high risk investments, so you may want to limit the size of your investment to just a small part of your portfolio.
