The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices. The Consumer Services segments offers bill payment services, which facilitate payments for consumers, businesses, and other organizations, as well as money order services, retail foreign exchange services, prepaid cards, lending partnerships, and digital wallets. The company was founded in 1851 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Western Union Company (The)

Looking at options trading activity among components of the Russell 3000 index, there is noteworthy activity today in Western Union Co (Symbol: WU), where a total volume of 92,163 contracts has been traded thus far today, a contract volume which is representative of approximately 9.2 million underlying shares (given that every 1 contract represents 100 underlying shares). That number works out to 134% of WU's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 6.9 million shares. Especially high volume was seen for the $11 strike call option expiring March 20, 2026, with 46,143 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 4.6 million underlying shares of WU. Below is a chart showing WU's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $11 strike highlighted in orange:
Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc. (Symbol: ARI) options are showing a volume of 11,802 contracts thus far today. That number of contracts represents approximately 1.2 million underlying shares, working out to a sizeable 122.1% of ARI's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 966,965 shares. Particularly high volume was seen for the $12.50 strike call option expiring December 18, 2026, with 10,720 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 1.1 million underlying shares of ARI. Below is a chart showing ARI's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $12.50 strike highlighted in orange:
And Stride Inc (Symbol: LRN) saw options trading volume of 13,615 contracts, representing approximately 1.4 million underlying shares or approximately 117.9% of LRN's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 1.2 million shares. Especially high volume was seen for the $100 strike call option expiring February 20, 2026, with 6,060 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 606,000 underlying shares of LRN. Below is a chart showing LRN's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $100 strike highlighted in orange:
For the various different available expirations for WU options, ARI options, or LRN options, visit StockOptionsChannel.com.
Also see:
HNI Split History
PCY Options Chain
NCNO shares outstanding history
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Notable Wednesday Option Activity: WU, ARI, LRN

Key Points
The legacy money transfer company has struggled in recent years amid intensified competition in the payments space.
New fintech companies and blockchain networks offer instant payments with low or no fees.
Still, there may be a turnaround story hiding within Western Union.
The iconic money transfer business, Western Union (NYSE: WU), has struggled in recent years, as many legacy businesses do amid a changing landscape. The payments space has become increasingly competitive with the emergence of new fintech companies and blockchain networks that offer consumers and businesses many new ways to instantly transfer money at a lower cost.
Western Union's stock is down close to 58% over the past five years. Quarterly revenue and net income have also trended in the wrong direction:
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That said, the stock is cheap, and Western Union's dividend now yields over 10%. Is Western Union stock a buy, sell, or hold?
Although much uncertainty remains, there is a potential story here
Western Union's largest business is consumer money transfers, which allow people to use the company's various payment products to send money globally, with funds settling in minutes. Western Union's network includes locations in 200 countries and through many different websites.
However, there are fees involved in these transactions. Meanwhile, there are now more payment transfer options than ever before, and many have low or no fees. Through the first three quarters of 2025, revenue in the company's consumer money transfer business has fallen 8% year over year. This business has made up about 85% of total revenue so far in 2025.
However, it's not all bad because Western Union's newer consumer services division has seen revenue rise nearly 50% year over year in the same time frame.
This business leverages multiple payment options, including Western Union's physical agent locations, digital wallets, and prepaid cards, among others, to allow consumers to send money internationally and even pay certain bills in certain countries. Western Union is also launching its own U.S. dollar stablecoin on the Solana blockchain network.
While cash at the company fell from nearly $1.5 billion at the end of 2024 to $948 million at the end of the third quarter of 2025, Western Union made $500 million in principal payments on its debt, which were still close to $2.6 billion at the end of the third quarter.
Additionally, operating cash flow at the company through the first three quarters of the year still looks to be easily covering the ultra-high dividend, and the company continues to buy back shares as well.
Ultimately, Western Union could be a deep-value turnaround play, trading at just 5 times forward earnings. But it's still early. The big question, in my mind, is how much more the consumer money transfer business will decline and whether the fast-growing but smaller consumer services business can truly pick up the slack and eventually help grow total revenue.
I think investors could continue to hold the stock for now or start with a small bite, and then monitor the company's progress.
Should you buy stock in Western Union right now?
Before you buy stock in Western Union, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Western Union wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $474,578!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,628!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 955% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 196% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of January 21, 2026.
Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Western Union Stock: Buy, Sell, or Hold in 2026?

Key Points
Pfizer is investing in oncology and GLP-1 drugs, among other things, to keep its growth prospects bright.
Western Union is planning a digital network featuring a stablecoin.
The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF offers both dividend income and share-price appreciation.
Are you in the market for some dividend-paying stocks for your portfolio? If not, you might want to reconsider. It's true that growth stocks can seem more exciting, but they're often more volatile, too. And some can be significantly overvalued, just as likely to pull back for a breather as to keep advancing.
This is much less the case with dividend payers. After all, a company will typically grow to a point where it has fairly reliable income before management will commit to paying a regular dividend. After all, no company wants to have to reduce or eliminate a dividend when times get tough, as that's a big red flag for investors.
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Here, then, are three compelling dividend stocks to consider for your long-term portfolio.
1. Pfizer
Let's begin with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), which recently sported a hefty dividend yield of 6.7%. The company has struggled in recent years, as its COVID-19 vaccine and COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid -- both once big growth drivers -- are now far less in demand. On top of that, some of the company's drugs are facing the end of their patent protections. All that has worried investors and sent share prices south, which ended up boosting its dividend yield.
There's good news, though, as Pfizer has been busy beefing up its prospects. For one thing, it has struck a licensing deal with the Chinese company YaoPharma -- which has a GLP-1 drug in early stages of development. Pfizer has also been investing in oncology, which could result in some big sellers.
The company is working to turn its fortunes around, but it might not happen in 2026. Management has also recently stated that its strategy includes maintaining and growing its dividend over time. While it works to recover, investors buying now can enjoy a generous stream of dividend income. The stock looks attractively valued at recent levels, with a recent forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 8.7, below its five-year average of 9.7.
2. Western Union
Western Union (NYSE: WU), meanwhile, has an even heftier dividend yield, recently at 10.14%. And when you add in the value delivered to shareholders through stock buybacks, its total shareholder yield was recently 17%.
The company's history goes all the way back to 1851, before the Civil War, and it has had to transform its business multiple times over its life. Therefore, it might not be surprising that it's looking at cryptocurrency and planning a stablecoin and digital money transfer network to help it keep up with the changing times.
In the meantime, the company is chugging along. Its third quarter featured flat overall revenue, but operating margins improved to 20%, and its consumer services division posting 49% year-over-year growth. The stock seems attractively valued, with a recent forward P/E ratio of 5.3, well below the five-year average of 7.3.
The stock is not exactly a buy-it-and-forget-it proposition, as the fintech (financial technology) world is fast-changing, but those buying into it now can enjoy significant dividend income while keeping an eye on the company's developments.
3. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
My third suggestion isn't exactly a stock. It's an exchange-traded fund (ETF) -- a fund that trades like a stock. Specifically, it's the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEMKT: SCHD), with a recent dividend yield of 3.8% and a 10-year average annual gain of 2.9%.
Buying into it will quickly have you invested in 100 companies with at least 10 years of dividend increases. Top holdings recently included Lockheed Martin, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Chevron. The ETF is well worth considering, as it offers a nice mix of both dividend income and stock-price appreciation.
So consider these dividend payers and take a closer look at any that intrigue you. Remember, too, that there are other promising dividend stocks and dividend-focused ETFs to consider.
Should you buy stock in Pfizer right now?
Before you buy stock in Pfizer, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Pfizer wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $474,578!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,141,628!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 955% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 196% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of January 21, 2026.
Selena Maranjian has positions in Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF, and Western Union. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bristol Myers Squibb, Chevron, and Pfizer. The Motley Fool recommends Lockheed Martin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

3 No-Brainer Dividend Stocks to Buy Right Now -- Including Pfizer

Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on 12/22/25, Broadcom Inc (Symbol: AVGO), Western Union Co (Symbol: WU), and Toro Company (Symbol: TTC) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. Broadcom Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.65 on 12/31/25, Western Union Co will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.235 on 12/31/25, and Toro Company will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.39 on 1/12/26. As a percentage of AVGO's recent stock price of $326.02, this dividend works out to approximately 0.20%, so look for shares of Broadcom Inc to trade 0.20% lower — all else being equal — when AVGO shares open for trading on 12/22/25. Similarly, investors should look for WU to open 2.44% lower in price and for TTC to open 0.48% lower, all else being equal.
Below are dividend history charts for AVGO, WU, and TTC, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.
Broadcom Inc (Symbol: AVGO):
Western Union Co (Symbol: WU):
Toro Company (Symbol: TTC):
In general, dividends are not always predictable, following the ups and downs of company profits over time. Therefore, a good first due diligence step in forming an expectation of annual yield going forward, is looking at the history above, for a sense of stability over time. This can help in judging whether the most recent dividends from these companies are likely to continue. If they do continue, the current estimated yields on annualized basis would be 0.80% for Broadcom Inc, 9.74% for Western Union Co, and 1.94% for Toro Company.
In Thursday trading, Broadcom Inc shares are currently off about 4.5%, Western Union Co shares are up about 0.4%, and Toro Company shares are up about 10.7% on the day.
Click here to learn which 25 S.A.F.E. dividend stocks should be on your radar screen »
Also see:
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Ex-Dividend Reminder: Broadcom, Western Union and Toro

In this series, we look through the most recent Dividend Channel ''DividendRank'' report, and then we cherry pick only those companies that have experienced insider buying within the past six months. The officers and directors of a company tend to have a unique insider's view of the business, and presumably the only reason an insider would choose to take their hard-earned cash and use it to buy stock in the open market, is that they expect to make money — maybe they find the stock very undervalued, or maybe they see exciting progress within the company, or maybe both. So when stocks turn up that see insider buying, and are also top ranked, investors are wise to take notice. One such company is Western Union Co (Symbol: WU), which saw buying by President Europe, Africa, MEPA Giovanni Angelini.
Back on November 10, Angelini invested $89,540.00 into 10,000 shares of WU, for a cost per share of $8.95. In trading on Wednesday, shares were changing hands as low as $9.59 per share, which is 7.0% above Angelini's purchase price. Western Union Co shares are currently trading +1.30% on the day. The chart below shows the one year performance of WU shares, versus its 200 day moving average:
Looking at the chart above, WU's low point in its 52 week range is $7.85 per share, with $11.945 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $9.70. By comparison, below is a table showing the prices at which insider buying was recorded over the last six months:
Purchased
Insider
Title
Shares
Price/Share
Value
08/18/2025
Matthew Cagwin
Chief Financial Officer
17,500
$8.36
$146,300.00
08/21/2025
Devin McGranahan
CEO & President
176,470
$8.49
$1,498,053.83
11/10/2025
Giovanni Angelini
President Europe, Africa, MEPA
10,000
$8.95
$89,540.00
The DividendRank report noted that among the coverage universe, WU shares displayed both attractive valuation metrics and strong profitability metrics. The report also cited the strong quarterly dividend history at Western Union Co, and favorable long-term multi-year growth rates in key fundamental data points.
The report stated, ''Dividend investors approaching investing from a value standpoint are generally most interested in researching the strongest most profitable companies, that also happen to be trading at an attractive valuation. That's what we aim to find using our proprietary DividendRank formula, which ranks the coverage universe based upon our various criteria for both profitability and valuation, to generate a list of the top most 'interesting' stocks, meant for investors as a source of ideas that merit further research.''
The annualized dividend paid by Western Union Co is $0.94/share, currently paid in quarterly installments, and its most recent dividend ex-date was on 12/22/2025. Below is a long-term dividend history chart for WU, which the report stressed as being of key importance. Indeed, studying a company's past dividend history can be of good help in judging whether the most recent dividend is likely to continue.
Also see:
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Western Union Named Top Dividend Stock With Insider Buying and 9.78% Yield (WU)

Key Points
Both PayPal USD and Ripple USD now rank among the top 10 stablecoins by market cap.
Since stablecoins always trade for a price of $1, it's important to evaluate them in terms of overall utility.
Given the size and scale of the PayPal ecosystem, PayPal USD could see an expanding set of potential use cases.
There are two up-and-coming stablecoins that are starting to make some noise right now within the $250 billion stablecoin industry: PayPal USD (CRYPTO: PYUSD) and Ripple USD (CRYPTO: RLUSD). Both now rank among the top 10 stablecoins by market cap, and both have an expanding set of potential use cases.
So which is the better buy right now?
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$1 forever
It's important to point out at the outset that "better buy" in this context does not mean "better investment." After all, both PayPal USD and Ripple USD are stablecoins that are pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. Theoretically, you should also be able to exchange either one for $1 at any time.
That also means that, years from now, both will still be trading for $1. There won't be a "better investment" because neither will change in price. Unless one of them loses its dollar peg, there won't be any meaningful way to compare them head-to-head.
So we'll need another way to determine which one is the "better buy," and the best possible litmus test is utility. In other words, how can we utilize or deploy these stablecoins in our everyday lives?
PayPal's stablecoin
PayPal USD appears to have the clear advantage in terms of utility. As you might have inferred from the name, this is PayPal's official stablecoin. The stablecoin launched in August 2023, but it has only been recently that it has been in the spotlight, thanks to the rapid growth within the stablecoin industry.
I've bought some PayPal USD for my own account, and I've been impressed with how easily it can be integrated into the full PayPal experience. For example, when I open the PayPal app on my phone, I can see my PayPal balance, several other PayPal accounts, and my PayPal crypto account. It's easy to move money around all of these accounts, and I'm earning a not-insignificant 4% on my PYUSD holdings.
Plans are underway to make PYUSD a bigger part of the PayPal e-commerce experience, as well as part of the PayPal merchant experience. Put another way, it will be easier than ever before to use stablecoins at checkout, or to make stablecoins part of the cash management process at a small business.
All of this, in my opinion, is a huge win for PayPal and may help to explain why PYUSD now has a $2.7 billion market cap.
Ripple's stablecoin
In contrast, the primary use case for RLUSD is making cross-border payments. For example, if you have friends or family living abroad, you can send RLUSD to them. They could then convert that RLUSD into their home currency. Since all of this runs on blockchain rails, it's potentially cheaper, faster, and more efficient than doing the same process via traditional methods, such as Western Union.
However, RLUSD is primarily intended for banks making cross-border payments, not individuals sending money abroad every month. And there's no natural home for RLUSD, as there is for PYUSD. You will need a cryptocurrency wallet to buy and hold RLUSD, and that may present a steep learning curve, especially if you have older family members living outside the United States.
Since Ripple, creator of the RLUSD stablecoin, is also the creator of XRP, the high-risk, high-reward crypto token, the early thinking was that there might be some advantages to holding RLUSD if you were also using XRP for decentralized finance (DeFi).
However, as it stands now, DeFi is still relatively underdeveloped on the XRP blockchain, and I don't see any immediate reason to acquire some RLUSD. From my perspective, it's still better to deploy stablecoins on other blockchains.
And the winner is...
For that reason, the clear winner here is PayPal USD. It is the only stablecoin that I hold outside USDC, and for good reason. It can be easily integrated into any PayPal workflow and comes with the backing of one of the world's top fintech players.
If you are looking to get involved with stablecoins, PayPal USD offers an attractive potential entry point.
Should you invest $1,000 in PayPal USD right now?
Before you buy stock in PayPal USD, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and PayPal USD wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $576,882!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,119,006!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,002% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 190% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of November 24, 2025
Dominic Basulto has positions in PayPal USD, USDC, and XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends PayPal and XRP. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2027 $42.50 calls on PayPal and short December 2025 $75 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Better Stablecoin Buy: PayPal vs. Ripple (XRP)

Key Points
XRP and Tron both have the ability to process higher transaction volumes at lower costs compared to legacy financial infrastructure solutions.
Tron is primarily used by retail customers and has reportedly been a platform riddled with financial shenanigans.
XRP targets large financial institutions, which lend a higher level of credibility than the Tron network enjoys.
In discussions of leading blockchain platforms, two names that often emerge are XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) and Tron (CRYPTO: TRX).
XRP boasts a market capitalization of $133 billion. This is nearly five times Tron's market value of about $27 billion, handily making it the more valuable cryptocurrency.
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Below, I'll explore the primary applications that Tron and XRP focus on in the world of decentralized finance (DeFi). From there, I'll make the case for why I believe XRP is well-positioned to remain a more valuable digital asset than its competitors.
What is Tron, and what is it used for?
Similar to Ethereum, Tron's ecosystem supports smart contracts and users' ability to send cryptocurrency tokens to one another. And like XRP, Tron can process thousands of transactions per second at a fraction of a cent.
The combination of speed and cost-efficiency over legacy financial services infrastructure makes Tron a suitable option for peer-to-peer payments in the digital era.
Where I begin to see some risk with Tron is in the underlying details of its user activity. According to data from Elliptic, Tron's network has been heavily utilized by countries such as Russia and North Korea. Moreover, TRM Labs reported that of the $45 billion in suspicious or illicit crypto volume in 2024, nearly 60% occurred on Tron.
Against this backdrop, it appears that Tron has become a playground for fraud and scams -- serving as a mechanism to fuel activity, including money laundering schemes, and acting as a decentralized vessel for gambling payments and similar applications.
XRP has more brand recognition than Tron
Indeed, XRP does not exactly have a squeaky-clean reputation of its own. Ripple -- the company that issues XRP -- was at the center of a lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for several years.
However, Ripple's recent legal victories over the SEC suggest the company and its underlying technology, including the XRP ledger, achieved some level of acceptance and cooperation in the regulatory environment.
With that in mind, I think Ripple's target customer demographic -- primarily large financial institutions -- may be more willing to adopt, or at the very least explore and test, the company's services.
Some of Ripple's more notable customers include American Express, Bank of America, Western Union, and the Saudi Central Bank.
Why XRP will remain more valuable than Tron
In my opinion, the primary difference between the two blockchains explored here is that Tron is a platform primarily used for stablecoin transfers among retail users. In other words, Tron's network continues to process high transaction volumes, but its user base lacks the same level of sophistication or mission-critical needs as those of a traditional bank or large corporation.
By contrast, XRP is purpose-built to facilitate cross-border transactions for complex global financial institutions at global scale.
Moreover, I think XRP's compliance with the SEC could go a long way toward improving its image and ultimately inspire accelerated adoption and integration among banks and large-scale payment processors down the road.
While XRP and Tron carry similar value propositions, I believe that Tron's affiliation in geographic jurisdictions where regulatory oversight and security protocols may be less developed, as well as its exposure to less transparent use cases, will put pressure on its ability to experience notable valuation appreciation in the future.
For this reason, I'm more bullish about XRP's future trajectory compared to its seemingly compromised peer. With these dynamics in mind, I believe XRP will remain a more valuable cryptocurrency than Tron for years to come.
Should you invest $1,000 in XRP right now?
Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $599,785!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,165,716!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,035% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 191% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
*Stock Advisor returns as of November 17, 2025
American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Adam Spatacco has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Prediction: XRP Will Be Worth More Than TRON in 2030

Key Points
Fintech stocks have plunged on concerns about rising credit risk.
Remitly has little exposure to credit, but the stock fell sharply on its recent earnings report.
The stock looks cheap and is still posting strong growth.
The Nasdaq Composite isn't even down 5% from its peak, but cracks are starting to show in the bull market that's driven the tech-heavy index to more than double over the last three years.
Consumer discretionary spending at places like Chipotle is waning as multiple fast-casual chains have pointed to weakness in the key 25-to-35 demographic, and footwear and apparel brands like Lululemon, Deckers, and Nike are struggling as well.
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The housing market remains weak. AI infrastructure platforms like Coreweave and Nebius are now down sharply from earlier peaks, showing that enthusiasm for all things AI may have gotten overheated.
Additionally, fintech stocks have withered recently, amid concerns about higher loan losses at some regional banks, rising auto loan delinquencies, weakness in the labor market, and plunging consumer confidence.
As a result, fintech stocks have fallen nearly across the board, but that's set up a number of attractive buying opportunities. Keep reading to one stock that looks like a drop-dead bargain right now.
Remittances are big business
Remitly Global (NASDAQ: RELY) has established itself as a leader in global remittances. As a digital-first platform, the company has grown rapidly as it's taken market share from traditional competitors like Western Union and MoneyGram.
Immigrants and businesses depend on the company for cross-border payments, and the company's push into the business market has expanded its total addressable market to a whopping $22 trillion.
Remitly delivered another round of strong growth in its third quarter, with active customers up 21% to 8.9 million, send volume up 35% to $19.5 million, and revenue increasing 25% to $419.5 million, which topped estimates at $413.8 million. Its take rate is declining, but that is by design as part of a strategy to serve more business and high-amount senders, which pay a lower rate.
The company is launching new products to expand its addressable market and find new ways to grow, including Remitly One, a $9.99 monthly membership program the company launched in September, allowing customers to "send now, pay later" up to $250 with no interest through Flex; earn 4% interest with Remitly Wallet, and spend directly with a Remitly Card with no foreign transaction fees, among other benefits.
The program looks like a smart way to lock in new customers, expand Remitly's use cases, and drive engagement with the platform.
On the bottom line, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose 29% to $61.2 million, and the company reported a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) earnings per share of $0.04, up from $0.01 in the quarter a year ago.
Too cheap to ignore
Despite the strong results, the stock fell on the news, tumbling 25% on Nov. 6 after the report came out. The culprit appeared to be its guidance, which called for revenue growth to slow to 21% in the fourth quarter and projected high-teen revenue guidance for 2026.
After the sell-off, Remitly is now trading at its lowest point in nearly a year and a half, even as the business is delivering strong growth in all key metrics, is profitable, and is rolling out new products, including Remitly One.
Its price-to-sales ratio has now fallen to 1.7, which looks dirt cheap for a company with this kind of growth rate. The stock also trades at just 11 times its EBITDA forecast for the year of $234 million to $236 million.
It's also worth noting that Remitly makes most of its income from transaction fees, so its credit risk is much lower than for most fintech stocks. If the company can continue to grow on the top and bottom lines, the stock looks to have a bright future over the long term.
Should you invest $1,000 in Remitly Global right now?
Before you buy stock in Remitly Global, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Remitly Global wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $599,784!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,165,716!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,035% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 191% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
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Jeremy Bowman has positions in Chipotle Mexican Grill, CoreWeave, Lululemon Athletica Inc., and Nike. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill, Deckers Outdoor, Lululemon Athletica Inc., and Nike. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short December 2025 $45 calls on Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Fintech Stocks Are on Sale. This One Looks Like a Screaming Buy.

A look at the weighted underlying holdings of the WBI Power Factor High Dividend ETF (WBIY) shows an impressive 15.2% of holdings on a weighted basis have experienced insider buying within the past six months.
Western Union Co (Symbol: WU), which makes up 3.04% of the WBI Power Factor High Dividend ETF (WBIY), has seen 2 directors and officers purchase shares in the past six months, according to the recent Form 4 data. The ETF holds a total of $1,660,006 worth of WU, making it the #11 largest holding. The table below details the recent insider buying activity observed at WU:
WU — last trade: $8.88 — Recent Insider Buys:
Also see:
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Insiders Bullish on Certain Holdings of WBIY

Key Points
Western Union is going to launch a stablecoin on Solana next year.
It's essentially a money transfer business.
XRP was made for this exact use case, but it wasn't picked.
Western Union (NYSE: WU) just picked Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) to host its planned stablecoin and digital money transfer network that's set to reshape its operations and modernize them significantly. The chain will now potentially see tens of billions in new volume annually.
If you hold XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), that might feel like watching a plane take off after getting bumped from the flight. The network is sidelined from capturing any of the value from one of the biggest money transfer systems switching over to crypto-based settlement from its legacy tech. So is this a reason to sell the coin?
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This barely counts as a lost opportunity
Western Union plans to launch a new dollar-backed stablecoin, the U.S. Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), on Solana's chain in the first half of 2026. The company is also rolling out a Digital Asset Network to tie digital wallets and its fiat currency ramps together.
So why did Western Union choose to run this plan on Solana?
Western Union's gargantuan international consumer-to-consumer remittance flows are ideally processed very quickly, and very inexpensively. Solana's architecture is purpose-built for that profile. As a result, the company can reduce its working capital requirements and foreign exchange (FX) costs substantially, cut its overhead, deliver dramatically faster service to its customers, and potentially pass on the lower costs to them too. The upshot for it could be transformational if it commits to fully onboarding all of its transfer volumes to the chain over the course of the next few years. It will benefit Solana holders substantially as well along the way.
But none of this says anything about whether XRP and its ledger, the XRPL, are useful for financial institutions like banks and capital markets participants. It simply says Western Union optimized for its core demographic and product.
It's true that XRP was originally designed to process exactly these kinds of cross-border capital flows. It's also true that the chain's fees are quite low, that its transaction times are quick, and that its throughput is formidable. Nonetheless, there's a key difference between Solana and XRP, which was likely decisive here.
Whereas XRP is largely marketed toward institutional investors and financial institutions as a financial tool for trade settlement, money transfers, and asset management, Western Union is a business that's predominantly aimed at consumers who need to perform remittances internationally. This detail indicates that it isn't really in XRP's target market, even though it sure looks like it is.
The future still looks great for this asset
Although Western Union's selection emphasizes Solana's decent positioning for capturing consumer transfers, XRP's near-term catalysts run through institutions, and it doesn't need Western Union on its chain to continue to make headway on that front.
Financial institutions are incentivized to use XRP to be their home in the crypto sector because the XRPL includes many robust tools for attending to regulatory compliance. That's something that big banks and other regulated financial entities need to be on top of at every level of their workflows. On the XRPL, they can easily implement compliance tooling like trust lines, account authorization, and wallet freezes, allowing issuers to enforce transfer rules without bolting on a bunch of custom smart contracts and introducing complexity. Solana doesn't have the same feature set, so it isn't as much of a threat within XRP's actual target market.
More importantly, Ripple, the company that issues XRP, recently purchased the prime broker Hidden Road. This positions Ripple to offer cross-margining of assets and institutional trade execution under one roof. That feature set targets banks, asset managers, and corporate players, not remittance services or their customers. At the same time, consider that a business like Western Union might not have a use for those features.
Western Union on Solana is a win for that network in consumer remittances. But XRP's investment thesis is grounded in its chances of getting widespread institutional adoption, which means that it essentially lives in a different zip code. There's no reason to sell your XRP just because one of its peers with a different focus was able to bag a big new user, and there's plenty more growth on the way in the future.
Should you invest $1,000 in XRP right now?
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Alex Carchidi has positions in Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Solana and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
Founded in 1993 in Alexandria, VA., by brothers David and Tom Gardner, The Motley Fool is a multimedia financial-services company dedicated to building the world's greatest investment community. Reaching millions of people each month through its website, books, newspaper column, radio show, television appearances, and subscription newsletter services, The Motley Fool champions shareholder values and advocates tirelessly for the individual investor. The company's name was taken from Shakespeare, whose wise fools both instructed and amused, and could speak the truth to the king -- without getting their heads lopped off.

Western Union Company (The)

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