The Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price rocketed 7% higher on the ASX yesterday as the Aussie fintech continues its bullish run to start the year.
Why is Afterpay climbing higher?
Afterpay didn't release any new news yesterday but appears to have been buoyed by its positive momentum and a strong day for US Information Technology stocks to start the week.
With the US dollar climbing higher and a little more risk-on sentiment returning to global markets, we've seen a bounce in US and domestic equities over Friday and this was carried into Monday's trade.
Afterpay's share price is up 87% so far this year and 273% in the last 12 months to be a top performer amongst the S&P/ASX200 Index (ASX: APT).
That means a $10,000 investment in Afterpay this time last year would have netted you a tidy $27,300 return – not bad for a company that only went public in July 2017.
Could the Afterpay share price continue its momentum in 2019?
The Aussie fintech has been the subject of talks that it is overpriced since it began its tearing run on the ASX at the start of last year.
With the share price now comfortably back above the $20 mark at $22.39 per share, I think the momentum factor could carry it even higher.
The company is continuing to expand in the US and is scheduled to ramp up its UK operations in the second half of this year.
Despite some headwinds for retail and concerns over global economic growth in the second half of the year, I think Afterpay's fundamentals remain sound as sales growth trends higher.
For those who aren't as bullish on Afterpay's growth prospects, this top-rated stock in a $22 billion (and growing) industry could be in the buy basket for those seeking capital gains.
