Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) shares are marching higher today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) buy now, pay later (BNPL) stock closed yesterday trading for $3.16. During the Thursday lunch hour, shares are changing hands for $3.20 apiece, up 1.1%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.3% at this same time.
Like the ASX 200, Zip shares closed at 2025 year-to-date lows on 7 April.
Since plumbing to those lows, the benchmark Aussie index has surged an impressive 18.9%.
But investors who took the plunge and bought Zip stock on that day will have done a whole lot better.
How much better?
Let's find out!
Image source: Getty Images
Zip shares lead the market rebound
When the closing bell sounded on 7 April, Zip shares were trading for $1.19 apiece, down a precipitous 56.1% from the 25 February close.
That share price plunge would have kept many ASX investors on the sidelines, fearing the BNPL stock could still be the veritable falling knife.
But if you embraced Warren Buffett's advice to be greedy when others are fearful, then a $10,000 investment would have gotten you 8,403 Zip shares (ignoring brokerage fees).
If you decided to sell those shares today at the current price (at time of writing) of $3.20 a share, you'd receive a rounded $26,890. That's a gain of 168.9%, or $16,890 on your $10,000 investment in just three and a half months.
Boom!
What's been sending the ASX 200 BNPL stock soaring?
A lot's been going right for the ASX 200 stock since the recent 7 April lows.
On 8 April, shares closed up 6.7% after management announced an on-market share buyback of up to $50 million.
A little over a week later, on 16 April, Zip shares gained 16.2% following the release of the company's third-quarter results.
Investors piled into the stock after Zip reported a 219% year-on-year increase in its cash earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBTDA) of $46 million.
The stock also attracted interest on the day, after achieving a 36% increase in total transaction value (TTV) for the three months to $3.3 billion. Total income of $279 million was up 27%.
And investors got more good news from the BNPL company on 11 June on the heels of a trading update and guidance upgrade.
Zip reported that May delivered continued momentum in TTV growth in both its United States and ANZ markets.
On the guidance front, management lifted their full-year EBTDA forecast from at least $153 million to at least $160 million.
Zip share closed up 15.5% on the day.
