Pagaya Technologies Stock Skyrockets: Here’s Why It’s Dominating the Market This Week

Pagaya Technologies just pulled off a gravity-defying rally—while legacy finance scrambles to keep up.

The AI-powered fintech disruptor

No fluke here. Pagaya's machine-learning underwriting platform is eating traditional lenders' lunch, and Wall Street finally noticed. Shares surged as institutional investors piled in—better late than never for the suits.

Short sellers got steamrolled

Those betting against Pagaya's algorithmic edge are nursing losses today. The stock's vertical move triggered a gamma squeeze, because 2025's market still runs on meme-fueled momentum. Some things never change.

The cynical take

Let's see how long the hype lasts before the next 'AI-washing' scandal hits the sector. But for now? Pagaya's printing money—the old-fashioned way (by actually innovating).

Twin price raises

Those prognosticator moves didn't come out of the blue; rather, they were updates on Pagaya following the company's release of second-quarter results last Thursday.

Image source: Getty Images.

Of the pair, the more dramatic hike came from Citizens JMP's David Scharf, who now feels Pagaya stock can reach $35 per share. Previously, his level was $26. In making the shift, Scharf maintained his market outperform (i.e., buy) recommendation.

In his new take, according to reports, the analyst was encouraged by the significant growth of activities outside Pagaya's foundational personal loan business. This led him to raise his generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) per-share earnings multiple, resulting in the price target raise.

A more modest, yet still impactful, MOVE was made by B. Riley's Hal Goetsch. Like Scharf, he kept his existing buy recommendation on Pagaya intact while enacting a fair value assessment change to $54 per share from $46.

More of the same

The two analysts' price target modifications were the latest in a string of such moves following Pagaya's earnings release. There was much to admire about the company's performance, as it boosted its top line by a strong 30% year over year (to $326 million), and increased non-GAAP (adjusted) net income nearly sevenfold to almost $51 million. It easily topped analyst estimates for both metrics.