The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has fallen on six of the previous nine days — by as much as 6% per day — and is still this month's best performer on the ASX 50 by a large margin.
Afterpay shares are down 2.54% today and 5.37% this week to $117.65 per share. Yet the buy now, pay later giant has still gained 11% this month, beating ASX 50 runner-up Xero by 3% and the broader index by 9%.
Let's take a closer look at the Afterpay share price's highs and lows in April.
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Afterpay, Afterpay, Afterpay
It's doubtless the most talked-about ASX share of this year and potentially many others, and for a company that's not even four years old, it's no surprise that there appears to be new milestones (good and bad) virtually every week.
The biggest Afterpay investor news this month was the company's quarterly update that showed triple-digit payment volume growth, as well as a 75% growth rate in active customers and strong gains in the U.S. and U.K. markets.
Afterpay also has the Midas touch at the moment. It signed an agreement with New Zealand financial services firm Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV) yesterday and instantly sent the Kiwi's share price skyrocketing 26% higher.
These sort of continued growth figures are why the Afterpay share price rose from $12 per share in March 2020 to $151 per share by February this year. But there are continued pressures, and broker evaluations are often even more wild than the actual share price fluctuations.
US broker Bernstein has set a price target of just $40, a more than 60% decline, on Afterpay due to expected profit-margin concessions as the company competes with other buy now, pay later companies. It says PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) experienced the same struggles when it began offering similar services.
On the other hand, Citi set its Afterpay price target at $128 and Jefferies sets it even higher than the current price, back above $150.
Afterpay share price snapshot
Overall, the Afterpay share price has now risen 276% over the past 12 months. The real question for investors now is what will happen if (or when) it takes the plunge on the US markets.
