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LoanDepot trimmed its net loss by 43 percent during the first three months of the year by making more — and more profitable — loans.
At $5.17 billion, first quarter loan originations were up 13 percent from a year ago, while gain on sale margin improved from 2.84 percent last year to 3.72 percent, the company reported Tuesday.
Those numbers helped loanDepot grow Q1 revenue by 23 percent from a year ago, to $274 million, and bring the company’s net loss for the quarter down to $41 million.
The Irvine, California-based lender hasn’t turned a full-year profit since 2021 and previously racked up a $67 million Q4 2024 net loss and a $202 million net loss for the full year.
Company founder and controlling shareholder Anthony Hsieh returned to the executive leadership team in March and will become interim CEO in June, with current CEO Frank Martell transitioning to a board advisory role.
Hsieh thanked Martell for leading the company for the past three years and said loanDepot’s investments in technology, connections to real estate agents and joint ventures with homebuilders will help it scale as market conditions improve.
Anthony Hsieh
“As we move forward, we will build on our legacy of innovation by adding to our arsenal with new and emerging technologies and platform refinements,” Hsieh said on the company’s earnings call. “Innovation is a part of our DNA and how we built this company from the ground up.”
LoanDepot executives said they expect to originate between $5 billion and $7.5 billion in mortgages during Q2.
During the first quarter, loanDepot retained the mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) for most of the loans it sold ($3.4 billion), but its MSR portfolio shrank by 18 percent from a year ago to $116.6 billion.
Shares in loanDepot, which in the last 12 months have traded for as little as $1.01 and as much as $3.22, were up as much as 12 percent from Tuesday’s closing price of $1.02 in after-hours trading following the company’s earnings release.
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