On August 10, OppFi (NYSE:OPFI) held its second-quarter 2026 earnings call, and the numbers pulled in two directions at once. Revenue reached $145 million, up 1.9% from a year earlier and a record for any second quarter in company history. Yet adjusted net income fell 27% to roughly $29 million, and management trimmed its full-year outlook. Executives framed the shortfall as a deliberate trade-off, pushing back the rollout of a new lending product and an internal system upgrade to get both right. Despite the cut, the company held firm on its 2028 target of roughly $3 in EPS.
Bull Case: A Bank Deal Reshapes The Runway
OppFi’s biggest swing for the fences is its pending acquisition of BNC National Bank. The company said it has submitted regulatory applications to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and other agencies, with a target close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Management expects the combination to be financially transformative, projecting a return on assets of at least 10% and a return on equity of at least 35% by 2028, with revenue synergies from geographic expansion and cross-selling beginning in 2027. Alongside the bank deal, OppFi spent the quarter testing a new line of credit product with a bank partner, examining pricing, term structure, and how customers actually behave.
Management said the product met the growing demand for lower monthly payments over longer terms, and it is set to launch next month, built in under six months thanks to a new modular technology platform. The balance sheet backs up that ambition: OppFi ended the quarter with $92 million in cash and equivalents, $414 million in stockholders’ equity, and $541.8 million in total funding capacity, of which $173.5 million remains unused. The company also started buying back stock under a Board-authorized $40 million repurchase program, and recoveries on delinquent loans rose to $15 million from $11 million a year earlier.
Originations Slow As Charge-Offs Climb
The cost of that patience showed up directly in the results. Originations fell 9% to $212 million as OppFi tightened underwriting in segments it viewed as less attractive on a risk-adjusted basis. Credit quality metrics moved the wrong way at the same time. Net charge-offs climbed to about 40% of revenue from 32% a year earlier, and to 52% of receivables from 43%. Profitability took the hit investors will notice most: adjusted EPS dropped to $0.33 from $0.45, and unadjusted operating expenses rose to 43% of revenue from 39%, largely due to one-time costs tied to the BNC transaction and corporate simplification. As a result, OppFi lowered its 2026 guidance to $600 million to $625 million in revenue, $115 million to $130 million in adjusted net income, and $1.34 to $1.51 in adjusted EPS, all below what the company had originally expected for the year.
What The Market Is Pricing In
Hedge fund ownership ticked up slightly, from 27 funds in the prior quarter to 28 in the most recent one, a modest sign that institutional interest hasn’t backed away despite the guidance cut. Short interest sits at just 2.82% of the float, which points to little organized bearish positioning against the stock. Meanwhile, OppFi trades at a forward P/E of only 4.93 as of August 19, a multiple that suggests the market isn’t pricing in much of the growth management is promising for 2027 and 2028.
Conclusion
The quarter leaves OppFi straddling two timelines. In the near term, tighter underwriting and rising charge-offs are pressuring profits just as the company absorbs one-time deal costs. For the longer stretch, the case rests on BNC actually closing on schedule and delivering the promised returns, and on the new line of credit product converting the demand OppFi says its testing uncovered.
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