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Simple Content Summary: Better Home & Finance reported a $36.5 million third-quarter 2026 net loss despite 15% loan-volume growth to $1.40 billion. Revenue increased 9%, while its adjusted EBITDA loss widened. The company is expanding partner-originated lending and home-equity products as it pursues cost reductions.
Better Home & Finance Holding Company increased mortgage loan volume and revenue in the third quarter, but remained deeply unprofitable as the company pushed ahead with a restructuring and a larger technology-platform business.
In financial results released November 9, the New York-based mortgage lender reported a $36.5 million GAAP net loss for the three months ended September 30, compared with a $39.1 million loss a year earlier. Revenue increased 9% to $45.1 million from $41.5 million. Total loan volume rose 15% to $1.40 billion from $1.21 billion.
Higher production, mixed profitability picture
Better reported 4,748 total loans, up 16% from 4,086 in the year-earlier quarter. Purchase volume totaled $776 million, refinance volume was $356 million and home-equity line of credit volume reached $263 million. Those product figures represent 55.6%, 25.5% and 18.9% of total loan volume, respectively.
Its GAAP net loss narrowed by approximately $2.6 million, or 7%, year over year. But its adjusted EBITDA loss, a non-GAAP measure, widened to $29.7 million from $22.9 million. The two figures measure different things and should not be treated as interchangeable indicators of profitability.
Better said the quarter included approximately $12.8 million of expenses related to a proxy contest and other one-time legal matters. Excluding those expenses, the company calculated an adjusted EBITDA loss of about $16.8 million. That is a further company-defined adjustment, not its reported GAAP result or its standard adjusted EBITDA result.
Partner platform takes majority of volume
The company’s platform channel generated $792 million in loan volume, a 64% year-over-year increase, accounting for 57% of total volume. Its direct-to-consumer channel accounted for $603 million, or 43%.
That mix matters because Better is positioning its Tinman technology and partner relationships as an alternative growth path to acquiring borrowers entirely through its own direct marketing. Better defines total loan volume to include both funded loans and loans processed for strategic partners, so the headline volume figure should not be read as solely mortgages funded on Better’s own balance sheet.
Home-equity products also gained share. HELOC volume represented 19% of the quarter’s production, compared with 12% in the first quarter, according to the company.
Cost cuts follow board upheaval
Better said actions completed after quarter-end were expected to generate $30.4 million in annualized savings toward a $64.2 million target. It separately said it had executed $3.5 million in annualized savings by reducing management layers and increasing automation. These are company estimates and targets, not proof that the projected full-year savings have already been realized.
The earnings release follows a contentious leadership change. Better said a stockholder group led by founder Vishal Garg obtained written consents representing 52% of outstanding voting power, resulting in the removal of five directors and the interim chief executive. WRE News previously covered the board-control dispute and the company’s cost-reduction and HELOC announcements. The November 9 earnings report adds final quarterly financial results not contained in those earlier developments.
Better ended September with $77.5 million in cash and cash equivalents and $12.9 million in restricted cash. Its reported total stockholders’ equity stood at $24.3 million, down from $37.2 million at year-end 2025. Those balance-sheet figures underscore the importance of the company’s execution and liquidity position as it works toward profitability.
What to watch next
Better guided to $45 million to $47 million of fourth-quarter operating expenses measured on an adjusted EBITDA basis. That is an expense outlook, not a forecast of positive earnings. Management described sustainable adjusted EBITDA breakeven as a priority, but did not establish that it has achieved that milestone.
For mortgage industry competitors and partners, the questions are whether platform volume can continue growing, whether HELOC demand remains durable, and whether the company’s cost reductions can narrow losses without undermining production. The next results will offer a clearer test of that strategy.
Source: Better Home & Finance Holding Company, third-quarter 2026 earnings release and financial tables, November 9, 2026. Financial results cover the quarter ended September 30, 2026.
Featured image: Illustrative office-building photograph by Viktor Jakovlev / Unsplash; not Better Home & Finance headquarters.
