Randian Urges loanDepot to Consider Sale, Leadership Changes

Activist investment firm Randian Capital urged loanDepot's board of directors on Wednesday to conduct a formal review of strategic alternatives, including a potential sale, citing the company's falling share prices and ongoing losses. Randian, which holds economic exposure to over 250,000 loanDepot shares through stock and options, stated in an open letter that the company's stock has fallen more than 90% since its February 2021 IPO at $14 per share, trading around $1.12 as of Tuesday. The firm contends that macroeconomic headwinds alone do not account for loanDepot's sustained underperformance, noting that competitors have adapted their cost structures and strategies to the current challenging mortgage market.

loanDepot, based in Irvine, California, has continued to struggle with profitability. In the first quarter of 2026, the lender reported a net loss of $54.9 million, an increase from the $32.8 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the $40.7 million loss from the same period in the previous year. Randian asserted that loanDepot has not yet demonstrated a viable strategy for restoring shareholder value, suggesting that its current scale might be a "competitive disadvantage" in an industry undergoing consolidation through mergers, servicing sales, and exits from origination.

Randian's letter highlighted that persistent low origination volumes could further exacerbate this issue. In the first quarter of 2026, loanDepot originated $7.7 billion in loans, a 5% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2025 but an increase from $5.2 billion in the first quarter of 2025. The company's pull-through weighted gain-on-sale margin also decreased to 2.71% from 3.24% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Management attributed these declines to market volatility, elevated interest rates, and a shift towards lower-margin conventional loans. loanDepot has declined to comment on the letter.