Oct. 10 at 6:33 PM
$SYF has
$2B+ excess capital
priority #1 organic growth
priority #2 dividend growth
priority #3 share repurchases OR inorganic purchases
organic growth is constrained
raising dividend 20% doesn't get rid of excess capital fast enough
SYF already doubled share repurchase authorization to
$2.5B (double the last authorization)
AND
SYF continues to generate like
$10B/yr in FCF
SO
will it buy the
$GS Apple Card loan portfolio rumored at ~
$20B (WSJ already reporting its going to
$JPM in late July
OR
buy
$GDOT for its fintech POS/embedded finance + digital wallet infrastructure, new customer base (underbanked) and the
$4B of non-interest bearing deposits.
This situation is so ridiculous if it lingers much longer given the China exit and investor settlement -- all the outstanding hurdles appear to have been cleaned up to a definitive merger that
SYF can announce ahead or at its earnings call on October 15.
