Matthew Engel
Analyst · Alliance Global Partners
Thank you, Kristen, and good afternoon, everyone. As Graham mentioned, the second quarter demonstrated continued strength in the underlying business, while reported earnings reflected several market-driven and nonoperating items. I'll provide additional color on the quarter, which is summarized by segment on Slide 11 and in today's earnings release. We recognized a GAAP net loss of $29 million for the quarter, while adjusted net income totaled $19 million or $0.84 per share. The difference primarily reflects noncash fair value adjustments on our portfolio, combined with certain one-time impacts during the quarter, which negatively impacted our GAAP results. We recorded $84 million of negative fair value adjustments during the quarter. In addition to those impacting our portfolio related to higher interest rates, this also includes a $24 million adjustment related to our convertible notes as our stock price increased nearly $11 per share during the quarter. Because the convertible notes are carried at fair value indexed to our stock price, an increase in our stock price increases the value of the associated liability, creating a noncash expense under GAAP. We also released our deferred tax asset valuation allowance, creating a tax benefit in the quarter of $42 million. This noncash accounting adjustment reflects our expectation that future taxable income will support realization of these tax assets and investors should expect a more normalized effective tax rate going forward. While these accounting adjustments can create meaningful quarter-to-quarter volatility in our GAAP earnings, they do not affect the underlying operating performance or cash generation of the business. We believe that adjusted net income continues to provide the clearest picture of the underlying earnings power of FOA. Adjusted earnings per share of $0.84 is a 53% improvement over the second quarter of 2025, and first half 2026 adjusted EPS of $1.94 improved 81% over the first half of 2025. Beginning with Retirement Solutions, continued demand as evidenced by the 21% increase in funded volume compared to the second quarter of 2025 allowed the business to contribute relatively stable adjusted earnings for the sequential quarter, even while we continued investing in the business with higher personnel and marketing expenses to support future production. For the first half of 2026, Retirement Solutions generated a 21% increase in adjusted net income on 14% higher funded volume compared to the first half of '25. And we believe these investments will continue to support higher production, stronger operating leverage and increased earnings power over time. Portfolio management completed a securitization of over $1 billion during June, which contributed to FOA's strong cash flow from originations and capital markets activity for the quarter. For the first half of the year, this segment has recognized $46 million in adjusted net income, a 24% improvement over the first half of 2025. Based on our first half performance and continued momentum across submissions and funded production, we are reaffirming our full year guidance of funded volume between $2.8 billion and $3.1 billion and adjusted EPS between $4.50 and $5 per share. Turning to our balance sheet and cash flows. As shown on Slide 12, cash generation from originations and capital markets activities remained strong at $58 million in the quarter and approximately $116 million for the first half of 2026. This enabled us to complete the Onity portfolio acquisition, make the semiannual interest payment on our nonfunding corporate debt and maintain strong quarter end cash balances. As we have said before, strengthening the balance sheet remains foundational to unlocking the full value of the operating franchise we have built over the past several years. We are very pleased with the progress we have made. When we think about our balance sheet, we identify 3 key components: inventory loans, HECM MSR and the residual fair value of our proprietary securitizations. The first category is inventory loans held at fair value that are yet to be sold or securitized. This is represented by loans held for investment and loans held for sale on our balance sheet. At the time of sale or securitization, we will recognize a cash premium and depending on the securitization type, we record a HECM MSR or residual interest at fair value. These loans are financed via warehouse facilities, and we hold a small balance of haircut equity in them. When loans are securitized, in most cases, the assets will remain on our balance sheet with a corresponding liability in accordance with GAAP. For HECM loans, these are HMBS obligations and for proprietary loans, these are nonrecourse securitizations. For both categories, FOA recognizes an accretive yield on the adjusted net asset value we hold. Regarding the HECM MSR, the adjusted net asset value, or the delta between the loans held for investment subject to HMBS obligations and the corresponding HMBS obligations, totals $326 million as of June 30, with financing of only $46 million or roughly 14% leverage. We continue to pursue increased financing secured by this asset at a more appropriate attachment point. With respect to our residuals and proprietary securitizations, we have the ability over time to monetize the equity held in these assets through the call and reissue of the nonrecourse securitizations. Proceeds from the monetization of the HECM MSR and proprietary residuals provides financial flexibility to our business. Our first priority is retiring the remaining $150 million of senior secured notes this November, which will materially reduce our nonfunding debt, lower our financing costs and improve recurring earnings. Looking ahead, once that debt is retired, the company will have greater options for a broad range of potential actions such as further deleveraging, stock repurchases, dividends or business investment. Before wrapping up, I want to call your attention to an amendment effective July 31, on the reporting structure of our Class B shares, which establishes a one-to-one alignment of the reported Class B shares with the underlying LLC ownership. This amendment does not change economic ownership or voting power, but provides a clearer view of fully diluted shares and market capitalization. With that, I'll turn the call back to Graham.