** Shares of buy now, pay later co Affirm AFRM.O rise 4.5% to $52.12
** Seaport Research initiates coverage of AFRM with a "neutral" rating
** AFRM's execution has been at a high level and
partnerships with Amazon AMZN.O and Shopify SHOP.TO will help drive fresh growth, Seaport says
** Seaport sees eventual slowdown in consumer spend creating growth headwinds to AFRM's gross merchandise volume $(GMV.AU)$; Walmart WMT.N - Klarna dynamic will eventually weigh on GMV as well
** Last week, rival Klarna said it is partnering with consumer finance app OnePay to offer installment loans for purchases at Walmart in U.S.
** Up to last close, AFRM had fallen 18% YTD
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City)
((Juby.Babu@thomsonreuters.com;))
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