Earnings

OppFi CEO Calls Stock A 'Really Unfair Multiple' As Company Starts Buying Back Shares

Todd Schwartz says the market ignores OppFi's investments, and the lender cut the top of its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $1.40.

OppFi began buying back its own shares in the third quarter, and Executive Chairman and CEO Todd Schwartz said on the company's Wednesday earnings call that the stock "is trading at a really unfair multiple for the amount of strategic initiatives and growth potential that the company has." The lender, which repurchased $6.7 million of common stock in the quarter, also trimmed the top end of its 2026 profit guidance.

Buyback meets a lower guidance ceiling

Schwartz told analysts the shares trade "well below pure multiples on both a trailing and forward basis." He said OppFi intends to use its board-authorized $40 million repurchase program when purchases look like an attractive use of capital.

CFO Pam Johnson said buying began in the quarter because the current valuation does not reflect the company's long-term earnings potential. Management plans to stay active when it thinks the shares are undervalued, she said.

Johnson said adjusted earnings per share fell to 37 cents from 46 cents a year earlier. Adjusted net income dropped 23% to about $32 million. Revenue was $149 million, down 3.8% from the third quarter of 2025, and originations fell about 7% to $229 million, which she tied mainly to tighter marketing-partner screening.

For 2026 the company now expects revenue of $600 million to $610 million, adjusted net income of $115 million to $120 million, and adjusted EPS of $1.34 to $1.40. Johnson said expectations for 2027 and 2028 are intact, including a goal of about $3 of EPS by the end of 2028.

More than $150 million of spending

OppFi runs a digital lending platform through which community banks offer credit to consumers often turned away by mainstream lenders; its bank partners fund the loans.

Schwartz said the company is investing more than $150 million this year. Asked to break it down, he listed an almost $18 million share repurchase so far, a $42 million payment tied to its tax receivable agreement, about $35 million to rebuild its operating and servicing system, called Lola, an investment in small-business funder Bitty, and the pending bank deal.

The company ended the quarter with about $141 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, $350 million in total debt and $443 million in stockholders' equity. Schwartz put the interest rate on a $75 million draw from the Castle Lake facility at around 12%.

Bank deal awaits regulators

BNCC stockholders approved OppFi's pending acquisition of the bank on September 17, leaving regulatory approval as the last step, Schwartz said. He said the company is responding to regulators and, if the process runs into the first quarter of 2027, will give updates. The announced deal is 50% stock and 50% cash, so no financing is needed, he said.

Shares have lost about 47.9% since the start of the year, against a 12.8% gain for the S&P 500, according to Zacks. Buybacks disclosed in the release averaged $8.91 a share.

Schwartz said OppFi launched its line of credit product in the third quarter and plans Model 7, a new underwriting model, in the fourth quarter, with a return to unit and origination growth targeted for 2027.