• SoFi Remains out of favor
• SoFi has just begun to fight as a bank
• Profits will take time to appear

SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) illustrates an important market principle. There is a season for every stock. And this isn’t SOFI stock’s season.

Hard times call for hard assets. SoFi doesn’t have them. What it has is growth, hope, and a plan. That is not what Wall Street wants right now.

A long-term investor will buy stocks when they’re out of favor either with cash or money from what is in favor. They will also shut out the noise and let time work for them, knowing that spring will come eventually.

It is not easy when the market is pounding on a position like mine in SoFi. On Mar. 21, the shares were fighting to reach $10. Some of mine cost as much as $15. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) downgraded the stock recently. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) did the same. Market momentum says sell.

So, why am I not selling?

Noto’s Plan for SOFI Stock

SoFi Technologies Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anthony Noto has a plan that makes sense.

He has made SoFi a real bank, so it can take deposits and make its own loans. He is offering his fintech technology, acquired with Galileo, to banks and brokerages. He recently bought Technisys to get into banks’ back-office systems.

None of that is yet reflected in SoFi’s results. During 2021, SoFi lost $485 million, or $1.00 per share, on revenue of $985 million.  The fourth quarter numbers beat estimates, offering a short-term respite to shareholders.

But the pop didn’t last. SoFi remains vulnerable to government policy on student loans, which represent one-third of the current loan portfolio. A slowing economy could mean losses in the personal loan portfolio.

The numbers were in before SoFi completed its acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp, which is now SoFi Bank. Now that it has a California bank charter, the plan is to become a national bank based in Utah.

This will transform SoFi’s numbers. It won’t have to re-sell new loans, as it did before it became a bank. It will be able to offer savings and checking accounts. It is already trying to buy shares with an account paying 1% interest, much higher than typical high-yield for checking offerings.

When Do We Make Money?

SoFi is next due to report results at the end of May. Another loss of 14 cents per share is expected. No matter how attractive SoFi may look right now, this means the stock is going nowhere fast. If SoFi hits estimates, it will show no growth from the fourth quarter.

Analysts even turned thumbs down on the Technisys deal. Shares currently trade at 10% below where they were before that deal was announced. Never mind that it cuts SoFi’s own costs. Never mind that it creates a new line of business. Never mind that SoFi can now cross-sell its Galileo APIs to banks that already trust Technisys services.

The Bottom Line on SOFI Stock

I continue to believe in SoFi stock. This doesn’t mean one should put all their money on it. An investor shouldn’t put all their money on anything.

But now is the time to slowly accumulate what is out of favor. You can nibble on SoFi while keeping most of your money in what is working, like Bank of America.

That is how investing works. You buy good companies when they’re down and make time into your ally. Speculators and the financial press are going to run around for months to come, buying oil when it is high, commodities when they’re high, and grabbing dividend stocks until yields drop to the floor.

With a balanced portfolio, you can make money in these areas right now. When attention turns back to growth, your little position in SoFi will be ready.

On the date of publication, Dana Blankenhorn held a long position in SOFI and BAC. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.