We recently published a list of 10 Stocks Defy Monday’s Market Optimism. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) stands against other stocks that defy Monday’s market optimism.

US shares kicked off Monday’s trading with a bounceback from last week’s pessimistic sentiment, as economies took a pause from their tariff war.

Additionally, investors breathed a sigh of relief on the February retail sales report which came in not as bad as feared.

According to the latest figures, retail sales rose 0.2 percent, albeit below the 0.6 percent as expected by analysts. Excluding autos, sales are up by 0.3 percent, in line with economists’ expectations.

Following the news, the Dow Jones clocked in a 0.85-percent gain, followed by the S&P 500 with 0.64 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq with 0.31 percent.

Meanwhile, 10 companies bucked a wider optimistic sentiment over a flurry of negative corporate news that weighed down on their shares. In this article, we have listed Monday’s 10 worst performers and detailed the reasons behind their drop.

To come up with the list, we considered only the stocks with $2 billion market capitalization and $5 million in trading volume.

An entrepreneur launching her new brand on the company's platform, looking confident and joyful.

Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM)

Affirm Holdings declined by 4.23 percent on Monday to end at $47.96 each following news that Swedish Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) firm Klarna Group would unseat AFRM as the exclusive provider of installment loans at retail giant Walmart.

In a statement on Monday, Klarna, an AI-powered payments and commerce network, said that it would partner with OnePay, a leading consumer finance app, to exclusively offer installment loans for purchases at Walmart in the United States.

AFRM has been Walmart’s BNPL exclusive provider since 2019.

According to Klarna, the change will be made gradually. OnePay will start integrating Klarna installment loan options into Walmart’s checkout in the coming weeks across all Walmart channels.

Meanwhile, AFRM said in a statement that it will continue with its long-term strategy of competing on its products and entering into sustainable partnerships.

Overall, AFRM ranks 7th on our list of stocks that defy Monday’s market optimism. While we acknowledge the potential of AFRM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as AFRM but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.