** Shares of Pagaya Technologies PGY.O jump 16.9% to $17.97 in premarket trading as the fintech looks to extend gains from last two weeks on improving investor sentiment

** Stock has climbed 65.6% so far this month after alternative asset manager Blue Owl OWL.N agreed to buy as much as $2.4 billion of consumer loans from the firm and PGY's strong Q4 results

** PGY last week said it expects to be profitable on reported basis this year

** Analysts said PGY's conviction that it is past most if not all major credit impairments has led investors to be more confident in company's growth trajectory

** PGY trades at 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, compared with rival Upstart Holdings' UPST.O 55.04

** Eight of nine brokerages rate PGY stock "buy" or higher and one "hold"; their median PT is $22 - LSEG data

** PGY stock slumped 43.9% in 2024

(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)

((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))