Last month was a rough one for most ASX buy now, pay later (BNPL) shares.
While the broader market ended the month in the green – the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) and S&P/ASX 200 Index(ASX: XJO) each gained 6.3% in March – nearly all ASX-listed BNPL stocks slipped lower.
In fact, the market's favourite pureplay BNPL stock, Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P), recorded the biggest tumble of the month.
So, what dragged on some of the sector's biggest players in March? Let's take a look.
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What drove ASX BNPL shares lower in March?
While ASX BNPL shares might have been hit with talk of inflation and interest rate rises, there were plenty of concrete happenings that weighed many down last month.
Firstly, shares in Zip and Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) both entered March fresh from the freezer after the former made a takeover bid for the latter.
The all-scrip deal – quickly accepted by Sezzle's board – will see investors receiving 0.98 shares in Zip for each Sezzle stock they own.
The Zip share price tumbled 6% on 1 March, while that of Sezzle gained almost 10%.
Zip also underwent a $148.7 million institutional placement to strengthen its balance sheet last month. Finally, it opened a share purchase plan that could raise $50 million.
Additionally, Sezzle made more headlines in March when it announced it would dump 20% of its workforce to save around US$10 million annually.
Over the course of last month, the Zip share price tumbled 32.5% while that of Sezzle fell 24.1%.
Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) was one of the only ASX BNPL shares to record a gain last month. It is, of course, the owner of former market favourite, Afterpay.
The Block share price gained 19.3% in March despite no news being released by the company. However, it was removed from the S&P/ASX 20 Index (ASX: XTL).
Speaking of index movements, shares in Latitude Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: LFS) entered the All Ords last month. Meanwhile, those of Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) were booted from the benchmark index.
Novatti Group Ltd (ASX: NOV)'s stock also went through an index shakeup – it was dumped from the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX).
The share prices of Latitude, Novatti, and Splitit fell 5.7%, 4.1%, and 11.1% respectively last month.
Finally, ASX BNPL shares Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) and IOUPay ltd (ASX: IOU) also slipped lower last month. They fell 2.2% and 5.5% respectively.
