The Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) share price is an outlier amongst its buy now pay later peers on Wednesday, surging 19.23% to 62 cents.
Surprisingly, the company has not made any price-sensitive announcements since its Q2 FY21 activities report on 29 July.
Let's take a closer look at the price action behind Splitit shares.
Splitit share price leading the BNPL sector
Splitit opened 8.65% higher to 56.5 cents on Wednesday morning but managed to climb as high as 62 cents before noon.
At the time of writing, approximately 7 million shares have traded hands, compared to its 10-day average of 3 million.
By comparison, leading BNPL names such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT), Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) and Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) have managed to eke out some small gains, rising 0.18%, 1.41% and 0.91% respectively.
Smaller peers with a similar market capitalisation as Splitit have delivered mixed performances on Wednesday, with Laybuy Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LBY) up 0.95% but Openpay Group Ltd (ASX: OPY) and Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) down 3.31% and 0.51% respectively.
Maybe its Afterpay
Afterpay's $29 billion takeover offer from Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) has sent ripples throughout the BNPL sector.
Most ASX-listed BNPL shares have logged double digit returns since the takeover announcement on Monday.
The Zip share price, for example, has welcomed the takeover news, surging 19.58% this week.
Similarly, the Splitit share price has jumped 32.61% this week as well.
Or maybe a dead cat bounce
The Splitit share price is one of the most beaten up BNPL shares.
Last Friday, the company's shares hit a 13-month low of 45.5 cents or a year-to-date decline of about 65%.
While a 32% rally this week is impressive, Splitit has a long road ahead to reach breakeven for the year.
