Fintech fundamentals remained strong in the first quarter of '22. Group revenue increased by 26.5% and was 230 bps better (median) than expected, while EPS growth was a healthy 13.8%, 260bps above its forecasts. 

In contrast, e-commerce-centric companies PayPal Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) and Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) reported slowing growth as the economy normalized and consumer spend migrated back to physical/brick-and-mortar. 

While Fintech management teams acknowledged rising concerns about the future macro-environment, WFC would describe their tone overall as cautiously upbeat' throughout the 1Q earnings season. 

The commentary was generally constructive about company outlooks due to numerous tailwinds, including ongoing digitization, modernization, continued share gains (especially for 'new-tech' companies), and continued healthy recovery in consumer spending post-vaccine.