(Bloomberg) -- SoFi Technologies Inc. climbed 22%, the most since July, after reaching profitability for the first time, taking the fintech one step closer to Chief Executive Officer Anthony Noto’s goal of turning the former anti-bank into a top 10 financial institution.

Fourth-quarter net income was $48 million, the first profit under generally accepted accounting principles since the company went public in 2021, according to a statement Monday. The figure surpassed analysts’ average estimate of $9.9 million for the quarter. Earnings per share were 2 cents, beating estimates of zero cents and up from a 5-cent loss a year earlier.

The San Francisco-based company said 2024 will be a transition year, with the technology and financial-services segments driving growth instead of the lending operation, one of SoFi’s trademark businesses. 

“We’re not planning to grow our lending business at all,” Noto said in an interview. “We just don’t need to grow the assets as fast in that business.” 

SoFi has made a name for itself as a hard-charging financial-technology company led by Noto, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker and executive at X, the company formerly known as Twitter. Founded as a student-loan refinancing business, the firm in March 2023 sued the Biden administration over its Covid-era student-debt repayment pauses. 

Read More: SoFi CEO Aims to Turn Former Anti-Bank Into Financial Titan 

The firm expects full-year net income in the range of $95 million to $105 million, and earnings per share between 7 cents and 8 cents. Noto said he doesn’t anticipate the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates five or six times with a strong economy, so the outlook factors in four rate cuts.

“We’re very conservative about the macro outlook,” Noto said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. The likelier outcome is that the Fed will make fewer cuts, and the economy will remain stronger, he said. 

Fourth-quarter adjusted net revenue was $594.2 million, beating analyst estimates of $573.2 million for the quarter. SoFi reported $18.6 billion in total deposits for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $7.34 billion a year earlier.

Deposit growth allowed SoFi to minimize reliance on more expensive forms of funding such as warehouse facilities, Chief Financial Officer Chris Lapointe said on a call with analysts.

“We were able to reduce warehouse facilities utilized by over $700 million, resulting in more efficient funding costs as we continue to ramp the portion of loans that are funded by deposits,” he said. “We exited the quarter with $3.2 billion drawn on our $9 billion of warehouse facilities.”

The shares jumped 22% to $9.28 at 11:42 a.m. in New York after earlier touching $9.45.

Looking past 2026, the firm said it expects 20% to 25% EPS growth, “reflecting both the continued growth of the core business growth plus the added benefit from new business lines launched in the 2024 to 2026 time period.”

As SoFi’s offerings expanded beyond student-loan refinancing, it stepped into crypto in 2019, but announced in November that it would exit that space given the associated regulatory pressures. 

SoFi also announced Monday that it will allow its customers to invest in some alternative investment funds, mutual funds and money market funds through its SoFi Invest platform. The firm will offer more than 6,000 mutual funds, as well as access to the ARK Venture Fund, Carlyle Tactical Credit Fund, KKR Credit Opportunities Portfolio, and Franklin Templeton’s Clarion Partners Real Estate Income Fund and Franklin BSP Private Credit Fund.

(Updates with CEO comments in seventh paragraph.)

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.