Evangelos Perros
Analyst · Jefferies
Thanks, Jon. Turning to results. We delivered our fifth consecutive quarter of GAAP net income, generating $25 million of profit while continuing to operate within a disciplined risk framework in a challenging macro environment. More broadly, what you're seeing is the strength of our model, optimizing for credit discipline, growth and operating efficiency while positioning the business for long-term success. At the same time, we remain cautious given the current geopolitical and macro backdrop. So let me take you through the numbers. For the first quarter of 2026, we reported revenue of $318 million, fee revenue less production costs of $121 million and adjusted EBITDA of $94 million. FRLPC as a percent of network volume was 4.6%. Network volume was $2.6 billion, up 9% year-over-year and 23% excluding SFR from the same quarter last year. As it relates to SFR, Darwin Homes, our tech-enabled property manager, continues to be the main engine of our SFR business, managing over 15,000 homes, and we expect to continue to add more homes under management as the platform scales. Strategically, our focus remains on consumer credit and becoming the partner of choice for lending institutions in our industry. So we will continue to assess strategic alternatives for Darwin and our SFR business. Application to volume conversion was below 1%, consistent with our deliberate shift towards higher-quality borrowers and tighter underwriting, reflecting the actions we took in the prior quarter. Total revenue and other income grew 10% year-over-year to $318 million. Revenue from fees grew 6% to $299 million, driven by higher volume and partially offset by lower take rate and FRLPC percent rate. Interest and investment income almost doubled as a result of our continued growth in our investments. Fee revenue less production costs grew 5% year-over-year to $121 million. FRLPC as a percent of network volume contracted by 19 basis points year-over-year to 4.6%, driven by new partner contributions and tighter pricing on our ABS transactions, reflecting higher cost of capital. As I discussed last quarter, tighter pricing flows through FRLPC in the form of lower fee revenue from capital markets execution, reducing upfront fees but providing support against potential future earnings volatility. In practical terms, we are effectively pricing at higher loss assumptions relative to the rating agencies in the range of approximately 125 to 175 basis points, creating a more clear risk boundary for our investors. Turning to profitability. Adjusted EBITDA was $94 million, up $15 million with a margin of 29.6%, an increase of 200 basis points year-over-year. Core operating expenses remained well controlled, flat sequentially and modestly higher year-over-year, and represented 39% as a percent of FRLPC. We continue to see strong operating leverage with substantially all of revenue growth translating into adjusted EBITDA growth in dollar terms. Operating income was $80 million, up 68% year-over-year. GAAP net income was $25 million, up $17 million compared to 1Q '25, driven by total revenue growth, cost discipline and lower interest expense. This equated to an 8% margin compared to 3% in the year ago quarter. Gains and losses on investments in loans and securities amounted to a loss of $38 million. Turning to credit performance. All asset classes are performing in line with underwriting expectations. 2025 vintages reflect normalized production levels and underwriting at a lower cost of capital by approximately 200 basis points versus 2024, and up to 400 basis points lower versus 2023. In personal loans, though still a few months of seasoning is needed, early-stage delinquencies are stabilizing and loss trends remain consistent with our expectations. In auto, recent vintages continue to perform well relative to prior periods with delinquencies and losses within expected ranges and recoveries improving. POS credit performance also remained stable. Turning to funding. Despite volatility in private credit markets, demand for our production remains strong. This quarter, we issued $2.1 billion through our ABS program across 4 transactions marketed to our network of more than 160 institutional funding partners. Additionally, new investor participation accelerated quarter-over-quarter, highlighting the continued quality and demand of our paper. I would highlight 2 key milestones here. Firstly, we received our first AAA rating from Fitch on our personal loan resecuritization shelf. And secondly, we successfully executed our first auto securitization. These are meaningful achievements that further validate the strength of our credit performance and our platform. In fact, the resecuritization is actually becoming a key part of our capital market strategy. It gives us 2 things, first, a repeatable mechanism to return capital from prior vintages on an accelerated basis, and second, lower funding costs by refinancing seasoned collateral with more predictable credit performance. This is a very powerful combination. Over the last 12 months, we have generated $44 million in net cash flows from this type of transaction while attracting new investors to our platform. As we have discussed, we continue to diversify our funding channels to reduce reliance on any single source and to mitigate market volatility. In recent months, we have leaned more into our ABS execution. This week, we completed another $800 million ABS transaction that was upsized from $600 million. And within ABS, we have different flavors like public and private structures, giving us significant flexibility. Turning to the balance sheet. Asset quality and mix continue to materially improve, increasing both liquidity and flexibility. Approximately 35% of our investment portfolio is in bonds from our sponsored ABS transactions, which provides both accretive returns and access to financing. Over the last 12 months, we have sold $30 million of these notes above cost and have received gross funding of approximately $180 million in secured borrowings, which we have raised and paid off during this period in line with our needs, highlighting the flexibility that these assets provide. Towards the last 2 weeks of the quarter, we drew down on our revolver as a precautionary measure given geopolitical uncertainty and paid it back in April. We also continue to deploy capital opportunistically, repurchasing $7 million of our corporate notes in February and an additional $4 million in April. During the first quarter, the fair value of the overall investment portfolio and allowances prior to new additions was adjusted downwards by $21 million compared to $50 million in the prior quarter. Now turning to guidance. We expect network volume growth to be driven by deeper engagement with existing partners, primarily in auto, contribution from new partners and new product initiatives. FRLPC margin is expected to be between 4% and 5% for the year, and we assume that the cost of capital remains elevated at current levels for the rest of the year. For the second quarter of 2026, we expect network volume in the range of $2.875 billion to $3.075 billion, total revenue and other income in the range of $345 million to $365 million and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $100 million to $115 million. We expect GAAP net income for the quarter of $25 million to $45 million. For the full year 2026, we are expecting network volume in the range of $11.45 billion to $13 billion, increasing the lower end of the range by about $200 million versus prior guidance. Total revenue and other income remains in the range of $1.4 billion to $1.575 billion. We are increasing adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of $420 million to $460 million. We are also increasing GAAP net income guidance for the year to a range of $110 million to $160 million. With that, let me turn it over to the operator for Q&A.