Neil Patel, The Motley Fool
3 min read
SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ: SOFI) has been a huge laggard. And investors might have a difficult time separating the share price from the underlying business. This fintech stock has lost 34% of its value in 2026 (as of Nov. 4).
But the fundamentals look strong. For example, SoFi ended the third quarter with 17.1 million members, a figure that soared 35% year over year. The trajectory of its user growth has been nothing short of spectacular.
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Based on historical trends, I predict that SoFi will easily top 20 million customers next year.
Success rests on taking care of customers
SoFi’s user base has ballooned by 490% from 2.9 million exactly five years ago to 17.1 million today. This type of growth is exceptional in the corporate world. It’s even more noteworthy in the mature financial services industry. The business has carved out a successful niche by targeting a younger and affluent customer base that values a digital-only platform with a superior user experience that makes managing personal finances seamless.
Cross-selling is driving growth. “Approximately 51% of new products came from existing members, and 37% of members now use two or more products, up from 33% a year ago,” Chief Financial Officer Chris Lapointe said on the company’s Q3 2026 earnings call. SoFi now has 26.7 million active products in use, 44% higher than 12 months ago.
Investors can’t ignore how much this business excels in the innovation pipeline. Just in the past year, the company launched cryptocurrency trading, blockchain-based remittances, an artificial intelligence-powered personal financial coach, and small-business loans, among other releases. This strategy of continually finding ways to better serve customers, a philosophy that propelled Amazon‘s monster success, is a major contributor to SoFi’s rise.
Expect the strong momentum to continue
While customer gains were 35% year over year during the last three quarters, the leadership team expects member growth to be 30% in 2026. This would imply that SoFi ends the year with about 17.7 million users. To reach 20 million customers next year, the business would need to grow its user base by only 13% in 2027. If history is any indication, then the odds are stacked heavily in SoFi’s favor to exceed this milestone.
