A company will always look at positive Net Present Value propositions. If APT feels they will be better of splashing the cash now so that they can make money globally then that's what they will do and in my view thats what they should be doing. Not all markets of course, but the lower risk markets.
It's too early to put APT into the "mature" divie paying bucket. Splurge now, cement market leading position, plant the seeds around the world and reap the benefits later.
Most of the things you've mentioned will happen regardless of expansion or not. You don't need to stop expanding to clean up your book and (as you put it) let the cream rise to the top. Bad eggs are already being weeded out with any late payers being cut off or having their limits reduced significantly.
It's more likely that APT will reach the $166 as a stock with global growth potential than a mature stock in 3 markets that's not looking to grow but instead pays a dividend.
Take FXL for example. They've had a BNPL model for a while but couldn't challenge or expand the same way that APT has. Obviously there are some product differences but they have also committed to paying dividends (albeit small) which is capital that should or could have been used for expansion. But once dividends are committed its hard to justify to stop paying them to your shareholders. FXL will be a slow growth BNPL "competitor" for this reason.
APT Price at posting:
$27.28 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
