The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has been sparkling again on Wednesday.
This morning the payments company's shares climbed 5.5% to reach a new record high of $52.29.
When Afterpay's shares hit that level, it meant they were up an incredible 550% from their March low.
Why is the Afterpay share price at a record high?
Investors have been buying the buy now pay later provider's shares after rival Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) announced its expansion into the U.S. market.
While ordinarily you might be concerned about increasing competition in the lucrative retail market, judging by Afterpay's share price, investors don't see things this way.
This is because both Afterpay and Zip Co have successfully co-existed in the Australian market for some time now without stifling each other's growth.
In fact, you could argue that they have been good for each other and helped accelerate the adoption of the payment method across the country. Investors may be hopeful the same happens in America.
And given that the U.S. retail market is estimated to be worth $5 billion per year, there's certainly room for both companies.
Why else is the Afterpay share price at a record high?
In addition to this, Afterpay's shares have been on fire over the last couple of months thanks to a number of factors.
These include WeChat owner Tencent Holdings becoming a substantial shareholder, its strong trading update (which showed that it has continued to perform strongly during the pandemic), and a stellar U.S. update. The latter revealed that Afterpay now has 5 million active customers in the country.
All in all, things are looking very rosy for Afterpay right now.
Is it too late to invest?
If you're planning to make a long term investment, then I would still be a buyer of Afterpay's shares today.
There may be better entry points down the line, but this is far from guaranteed with a rapidly growing company like Afterpay.
Though, given that it is a reasonably high risk investment, I would suggest investors limit the size of their investment to just a small part of their portfolio.
