Of all the sectors hammered in the post-pandemic period, the fintech sector has done just about the worst. New digital alternatives to traditional finance products received huge adoption during the pandemic and even higher valuations.

Yet as the interest rate environment turned, investor focus shifted from growth to profits, along with a slowdown in fintech end markets. That led to a violent rerating of most fintech participants, with many such stocks now trading 75% to 95% below their all-time highs.

Thus, the sector may be fertile ground for contrarian value plays these days. One name to watch is Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ), a modern card-issuing platform that became public in June of 2021 at $27 per share, then fell to an all-time low this year at $3.26 before rebounding to just over $6 today.

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Source Fool.com