LoanDepot founder Anthony Hsieh is back at the helm as CEO and focused on growth, efficiency and a return to profitability, the company said Thursday in reporting a $25 million Q2 loss.
The Irvine, California-based lender said it was able to trim its losses by 38 percent from Q1 thanks to a 3 percent gain in revenue, to $283 million, and 2 percent reduction in expenses, to $315 million.
“I am thrilled to return to the helm of the company that I, along with so many members of the team, built from the ground up,” Hsieh said in a statement. “My focus is to return to our roots and drive profitable market share growth fueled by technology innovations that power operating leverage, and ultimately a return to profitability.”
At $6.7 billion, Q2 loan originations were up 11 percent from a year ago, thanks to 45 percent growth in refinancings, to $2.47 billion. Purchase loan originations were down 3 percent over the same period, to $4.26 billion.
Shares in loanDepot, which in the last 12 months have traded for as little as $1.01 and as much as $3.22, closed at $1.74 Thursday before Q2 earnings were released.
LoanDepot hasn’t turned a full-year profit since 2021, when it was one of the lenders reaping the benefits of a refinancing boom driven by record-low mortgage rates during the pandemic.
Refi boom and bust
LoanDepot mortgage originations by type, 2018-H1 2025. Source: loanDepot earnings reports.
Since then, most of loanDepot’s business has been providing purchase loans to homebuyers, with that business continuing at pre-pandemic levels. Purchase loans accounted for 63 percent of Q2 originations during the spring homebuying months of April, May and June, up from 59 percent in Q1.
Company executives said they expect Q3 mortgage origination volume of between $5.0 billion and $7.0 billion.
Putting the band back together
Hsieh, who founded loanDepot in 2009, handed over the CEO reins to former CoreLogic CEO Frank Martell in 2022.
After being ousted as loanDepot’s executive chairman the following year, Hsieh won a proxy fight and succeeded in placing an ally, real estate veteran Steve Ozonian, on the company’s board.
With the company still in the red after shedding more than 7,000 employees, loanDepot announced in March that Martell would step down in June with Hsieh returning as interim CEO.
LoanDepot’s board elected Hsieh the permanent CEO on July 27, and this week he announced the return of two technology executives — Dominick Marchetti and Sean DeJulia — he said were instrumental in scaling the company during its first decade of growth.
Marchetti, who is returning to loanDepot as chief digital officer, served as the company’s chief technology officer from 2015 to 2019 before joining Rate and launching a consulting firm, Mezzo.
DeJulia, who returns to the company as chief innovation officer, was previously at loanDepot from 2009 to 2019, rising from lead developer to senior software architect and director of applications architecture.
“The return of these two brilliant and proven technology trailblazers — each with their own unique but complementary strengths — marks a pivotal moment for the company and a return to our roots of innovation,” Hsieh said in a statement.
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