What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after investors kept bidding the group lower after last week’s Federal Reserve hike. On September 16, the Fed raised the federal funds target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00%, its first increase since 2023, according to the Federal Reserve’s FOMC statement. The Fed said economic activity and domestic spending remain resilient, but stressed that inflation is still elevated and that the increase is intended to support a return to its 2% inflation goal. Higher policy rates can lift yields on interest-earning assets for some lenders. The tape has stayed focused on the less favorable side of a more restrictive backdrop: slower loan demand, higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, potential credit deterioration, and softer capital-markets activity. Those risks are still being marked into growth-sensitive financial earnings, which is why the selling has not stopped at last Wednesday’s announcement.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• Diversified Financial Services company NerdWallet (NASDAQ: NRDS) fell 7%. Is now the time to buy NerdWallet? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Personal Loan company Sezzle (NASDAQ: SEZL) fell 4.7%. Is now the time to buy Sezzle? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Financial Exchanges & Data company Tradeweb Markets (NASDAQ: TW) fell 3.5%. Is now the time to buy Tradeweb Markets? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
• Credit Card company Bread Financial (NYSE: BFH) fell 3.2%. Is now the time to buy Bread Financial? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

Zooming In On NerdWallet (NRDS)

NerdWallet’s shares are very volatile and have had 21 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was about 2 months ago when the stock gained 11.8% on the news that second-quarter revenue came in well ahead of Wall Street expectations. A clean top-line beat—$197.3 million, about 6% above the $186.2 million consensus—mattered more than in-line EPS of $0.07 and softer margins. Consumer revenue rose about 8% to $175.2 million, led by personal loans and deposit accounts, while SMB revenue fell about 11% under ongoing organic-search pressure. That split explains both the beat and the margin caution: demand in higher-intent consumer verticals is healthy, but the company is also investing to build owned audiences as search and AI change discovery. Adjusted EBITDA declined year over year even as revenue grew, so the quarter was not a pure profitability story. Forward, NerdWallet guided third-quarter revenue to $244–$260 million—about 17% growth at the midpoint—signaling management expects the consumer momentum to accelerate into a seasonally stronger period. Marketplace/fintech analysts often trade NRDS on evidence that loan and deposit verticals can outrun credit-card/search headwinds; a revenue beat plus an upbeat Q3 sales setup fits that framework, even with near-term margin compression.

NerdWallet is down 34.8% since the beginning of the year, and at $8.43 per share, it is trading 47.1% below its 52-week high of $15.93 from December 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of NerdWallet’s shares at the IPO in November 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $297.70.

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