1) Afterpay pays the merchant upfront then gets paid back in...

1) Afterpay pays the merchant upfront then gets paid back in average in 30days (weighted). Based on mathematical laws, the cashflow can only be positive when growth (g) < return on funds employed (c30%). IMO this is not going to happen for several years and we do not want it to happen. Not accusing you, but it absolutely amazes me how many people (including many professionals from the comments I’ve seen) seem to have no understanding of VERY basic mathematics.
2) they expensed a lot of costs associated with international expansion. If you look in the AR at the segment profitability you can see that australia is becoming more profitable over time (at least 3 full years now).
3) covered to death in other threads but direct competitors: affirm, Klarna, Sezzle, quadpay + new products from incumbents. There is fairly substantial evidence from numerous independent data points that all indicate that Afterpay is the clear market leader and is extending its dominance (see alternative metrics thread).