Oct 28, 2026 earnings call — Bank partnership expansion and credit tightening
Record quarterly revenue of $179 million and net income of $15.1 million.
Revenue $0.2B (est $0.2B) · EPS $1.61 (est $1.47)
Key quotes
"It added roughly 120 basis points to total revenue yield in the quarter, and we are projecting that pretax margin will improve by at least 200 basis points under the program compared to similar loans originated in our state licensed operations."
"We exited or tightened score cutoffs in our highest risk digital affiliate segments and eliminated other high-risk cohorts in our portfolio, which we believe accounted for roughly half of the 70 basis points year-over-year increase in net credit losses."
"In addition, we launched an end-to-end digital lending in July and are scaling the channel with discipline, expanding only as credit performance validates our risk-adjusted return expectations."
Analyst Q&A 3
Why more large loans now
Q (Zachary Oster · Citizens): They asked why the mix shifted between large and small loans, what decisioning drove that change, and what the outlook is for small dollar loans. They also asked for recent consumer health and trends over the past 3 months.
A: Management said the mix shift is driven by growth in auto-secured, larger loans while they have not abandoned small loans and will meet demand that fits their risk box. They said they are sloping loan offers and pricing to customer risk and affordability, so product mix will evolve. They described the consumer as overall resilient but noted delinquencies rising among consumers with low discretionary income and that they monitor jobs and energy prices and adjust credit boxes as needed.
"So the mix shift on large loans and small loans is very much what we've been talking about in other quarters." — Harpreet Rana
200 bps lift and reserve outlook
Q (Alexander Villalobos-Morsink · Jefferies): They asked what caused the 200 basis point yield increase with the Column Bank partnership and how to think about reserves going forward given the mix shift and partnership.
A: Management said reserves are set using product, FICO, delinquency status, and macro factors, combining quantitative and qualitative inputs. They said the reserve at 10.4% is their best estimate of lifetime losses today and that the bank partnership should not change the reserve because the credit box for large loans is the same. They explained the partnership shifts revenue and expense timing (marketing fee in other income and some expenses booked at origination) and that the net per-loan lift from the partnership is approximately 200 basis points.
"What you should see is a net of all of that is -- we approximate that to be a 200 basis point lift." — Harpreet Rana
Digital originations and small loans
Q (William Dezellem · Tieton Capital Management): They asked the biggest challenges and opportunities for end-to-end digital originations. They also asked whether smaller-income consumers are being charged higher rates or simply being lent to less, and when small loan origination growth will return.
A: Management said they have just launched end-to-end digital originations and have originated very few loans so far. They said challenges include a competitive market, the need for a smooth digital experience, brand, pricing, and strong fraud/authentication; opportunities are serving digital-first customer segments and entering new markets while using bank partnership to scale. For small loans, they use a proprietary score plus discretionary income to set loan size and yield, will optimize return on capital (including pricing where allowed), and said timing for small loan growth is hard to pin down though they are actively balancing higher-margin small loans and lower-risk large loans and adding offers where appropriate.
"We believe it's another channel that we can add to our mix." — Lakhbir Lamba (CEO)