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Simple Content Summary: Security National Financial’s mortgage business reported a $2.65 million pretax loss in the third quarter of 2026, reversing a small profit a year earlier. Mortgage-segment revenue declined 28.5% to $21.17 million as weaker origination activity and valuation adjustments weighed on results.
Security National Financial Corporation’s mortgage operation swung into the red in the third quarter, illustrating how weaker home sales and interest-rate volatility are squeezing lenders even inside diversified financial companies.
The Salt Lake City-based company said in its November 9 earnings announcement that mortgage-segment revenue fell 28.5% to $21.17 million for the quarter ended September 30, down from $29.61 million a year earlier. The segment recorded a $2.65 million loss before income taxes, compared with a $66,000 pretax profit in the third quarter of 2025.
Mortgage earnings turn negative
The mortgage business’s $2.72 million year-over-year swing in pretax results was the largest negative change among Security National’s three reported segments. Companywide pretax earnings declined 37.2% to $8.22 million from $13.10 million, while consolidated after-tax earnings fell 38.6% to $6.17 million from $10.05 million. Those consolidated results should not be confused with the mortgage segment’s pretax loss.
Chairman, President and CEO Scott Quist attributed the mortgage weakness principally to market conditions, describing declining sales activity and reduced volume in Utah, one of the lender’s major markets. The company cited a 27% year-over-year decline in Utah pending home sales in September and a 12% decline in closed sales. Those Utah figures are company-cited market comparisons, not a measure of the lender’s own originations.
Quist also said approximately $1 million of the mortgage segment’s quarterly loss reflected noncash fair-value adjustments to loans held for sale and derivatives, primarily interest-rate lock commitments. Such marks can change with market conditions and should not be treated as cash operating expenses.
SEC filing details the revenue pressure
In its Form 10-Q filed November 9, Security National reported that secondary-market gains from investors declined to $16.00 million from $20.38 million a year earlier, while income from loan originations fell to $6.93 million from $8.95 million. The filing also showed a $2.04 million negative change in the fair value of loans held for sale, compared with a small positive adjustment in the prior-year quarter.
For the first nine months of 2026, SecurityNational Mortgage originated 4,426 loans with $1.51 billion in principal volume, down from 5,216 loans and $1.76 billion during the same period in 2025. That represents approximately 15% fewer loans and 14% less principal volume, based on the filing. Those are nine-month production totals, not third-quarter-only counts.
Despite the weak quarter, the mortgage segment’s nine-month pretax loss narrowed to $3.28 million from $3.60 million a year earlier, according to the company’s earnings release. That distinction matters: the quarterly deterioration does not mean the segment’s year-to-date loss widened.
Other businesses remained profitable
Security National’s life insurance segment generated $49.73 million in third-quarter revenue and $8.34 million in pretax earnings, down 2.1% and 16.5%, respectively. Its cemeteries and mortuaries business reported $9.05 million in revenue and $2.53 million in pretax earnings. Both segments remained profitable, although each posted lower pretax income than a year earlier.
Companywide quarterly revenue declined 10.5% to $79.94 million. Security National also reported stockholders’ equity of approximately $469 million at September 30, reflecting a substantial increase during the quarter that management attributed largely to accounting effects from higher interest rates on insurance liabilities. That equity change does not erase the mortgage unit’s operating losses.
What comes next
Security National scheduled an earnings call for November 12 at 1 p.m. Mountain Standard Time to discuss its quarterly results and business segments. Investors and mortgage-industry observers will be watching whether weaker loan production persists, how valuation changes affect future results and whether the company’s expense reductions can offset revenue pressure.
The results were announced November 9 and describe operating performance during July through September; they are not evidence of a new November decline in mortgage originations.
Primary sources: Security National Financial third-quarter earnings release, November 9, 2026; Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. Featured photograph is illustrative, not a Security National property.
Image credit: Michael Tuszynski / Unsplash.
