Although it finished the day in the red, at one stage on Tuesday the Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price reached an all-time high of $5.70.
This brought the payment company's three-month return to almost 90%.
Is it too late to invest in Afterpay Touch?
I don't think it is. While it may be advisable to wait for a potential pullback in its share price over the coming weeks, I do believe that investors willing to make a long-term buy and hold investment will do very well even if buying at today's price.
In October Afterpay provided a business update which revealed that underlying annualised sales are now tracking in excess of $1.5 billion based on its recent monthly performance, vastly outperforming rival zipMoney Ltd (ASX: ZML).
This has been driven by the growing popularity of the Afterpay system with both merchants and consumers despite the difficult trading conditions being faced by retailers.
As of October 18 there were over 8,600 merchants on-boarded, up over 43% from approximately 6,000 at the end of June of this year.
And it isn't hard to see why more and more merchants are scrambling to get on-board. I cannot count the number of times I have heard people use the word "Afterpay" as a verb. I believe this shows just how popular the service has become and how it has become a part of retail life.
What's next?
Afterpay will next update the market on its progress at its annual general meeting on November 20.
While I do expect the company to report further growth in both its annualised sales and merchant numbers, it may be prudent to wait until that meeting before making an investment.
