The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price continues to surge higher in 2021. Shares in the Aussie buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider jumped above $150 per share on Friday to close the week at a new record high of $151.30.
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Afterpay share price hits a new record high
With last week's gains in the Afterpay share price, the company now has a market capitalisation of $43.1 billion. This means Afterpay is now sitting firmly among the ASX's heavy hitters by size.
For context, Afterpay's current value makes it worth more than Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) and Transurban Group (ASX: TCL).
That's despite Telstra recording $23.7 billion in total income for FY2020 compared to Afterpay's $519.2 million total income for the same period.
Why is the BNPL share surging higher?
The Afterpay share price has been something of a phenomenon since listing in May 2016. Back then, shares in the BNPL group were worth $1 each with a $125 million market capitalisation.
That means a $10,000 investment in the Afterpay initial public offering (IPO) would have netted early investors a whopping $1,513,000 today.
A successful international expansion while maintaining low bad debts has been key to Afterpay's success. That has seen the company continue to build strong underlying sales and broaden its merchant network across Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The catalyst for last week's new record high was an update from international payments giant PayPal. On Friday PayPal released its fourth quarter results including an update on its growing BNPL operations.
Despite a strong update from a growing competitor, Goldman Sachs noted that PayPal's update bodes well for demand in the US market. That means despite increasing competition, there remains a potentially lucrative market capable of sustaining many BNPL operators.
Foolish takeaway
The Afterpay share price continues to climb in 2021 as the BNPL share hit yet another record high by Friday's market close.
That means the Aussie company is now amongst the largest companies within the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), sitting just outside the top ten as at the close of last week's session.
