Dateline: Better Home & Finance, preliminary results, 14 October 2026

Better Home & Finance, the Nasdaq-listed online mortgage lender, reported preliminary third-quarter net revenue of $45.1 million on 14 October 2026, below its own guidance range, alongside loan volume of $1.395 billion that landed inside guidance. Fintechbits compared the two Better Q3 releases: the 13 October version led with Tinman platform volume of $790 million and contained no revenue figure, while the 14 October version disclosed net revenue of $45.1 million, below the company’s own guidance of $49.0 million to $52.0 million. The second release also puts a preliminary adjusted EBITDA loss of $24.8 million to $25.8 million against guidance of a $15.0 million to $18.0 million loss.

Deal: Planned sale of the UK bank, expected to close in the first quarter of 2027

Market: US mortgages and home equity lending

What the Better Q3 numbers show

The Better Q3 table is mixed rather than bad. Loan volume of $1.395 billion was up 15.3% on the third quarter of 2025 and sat inside the $1.375 billion to $1.525 billion guidance range. Net revenue of $45.1 million rose 8.6% year on year but fell 17.5% from the $54.7 million booked in the second quarter of 2026.

The loss line moved the wrong way. The preliminary net loss of $33.1 million to $34.1 million is narrower than a year earlier but wider than the $30.6 million loss in the second quarter. Better says roughly $8.0 million of proxy-related legal, PR and other costs sit inside the adjusted EBITDA figure, and that stripping them out leaves a loss of about $17.8 million, inside the original guidance.

Liquidity is the figure investors will watch. The 14 October release gives $81 million in cash and cash equivalents, $9 million in restricted cash and $75 million of unencumbered tangible equity in its UK bank, which Better expects to sell in the first quarter of 2027 for about $65 million of additional cash.

How the Better Q3 releases tell two stories

The first Better Q3 release, published on 13 October, was a growth story. It reported that Tinman AI platform volume rose 64% to $790 million, about 57% of total volume, and that industry volume fell 37% over the same period. It set out $13 million in annualised expense reductions and $51 million more targeted over four weeks. It did not mention revenue.

The second Better Q3 release puts the blame on the previous board. Vishal Garg, Better’s founder and head of product, platform and innovation, says the company was on track for more than $53 million of revenue at the 3 August board meeting, “the day I was fired,” and that the previous board and interim CEO “tanked volume and revenue by 13%” with a proxy fight. Fintechbits covered Garg’s proxy campaign and the consent vote that changed control of the board.

Fintechbits analysis

Fintechbits analysis

Why the Better Q3 revenue miss matters more than the volume beat

Volume is the number Better can steer most easily with partner programmes, and its processed volume includes loans run on Tinman for partners that Better does not fund. Revenue is what pays for the platform. Putting out the volume number first, with no revenue line, and the revenue miss a day later looks like careful sequencing. Nothing in either Better Q3 release appears to be wrong, but investors who read only the 13 October version got half the picture.

The proxy explanation is plausible but self-serving. An $8 million fight costs money and staff attention, and a quarter-on-quarter revenue fall of 17.5% is larger than the 16.3% drop in volume, which points to weaker economics per loan as well as fewer loans. Rates explain part of that. Garg’s July numbers of $496 million in volume and $17 million in revenue are management estimates from the side that won the fight, and they should be read that way.

The targets Garg set are aggressive. Better says it wants adjusted EBITDA breakeven by the end of 2026, a cost to make a mortgage below $1,000 and a HELOC below $500. If Tinman cannot get per-loan costs near those levels, the AI pitch behind the Better Q3 volume figure will be hard to sustain.

Frequently asked questions

What were Better’s Q3 preliminary revenue and volume?

Better reported preliminary third-quarter net revenue of $45.1 million and loan volume of $1.395 billion. Volume was within guidance of $1.375 billion to $1.525 billion, while revenue fell short of the $49.0 million to $52.0 million range.

How much did the proxy fight cost Better?

Better says about $8.0 million of proxy-related legal, PR and other expenses were included in its third-quarter results. Excluding them, the company puts its adjusted EBITDA loss at about $17.8 million, inside guidance.

What did the first Better Q3 release leave out?

Fintechbits compared the two Better Q3 releases and found that the 13 October version contained no revenue figure. The 14 October version disclosed revenue of $45.1 million, below guidance, which the first release had not signalled.

What to Watch Next

The audited third-quarter filing will show whether the preliminary ranges hold. The more telling test is the fourth quarter: Better’s CFO, Loveen Advani, says October numbers will still carry proxy headwinds, so fourth-quarter revenue, set against the more than $53 million quarter Garg says Better was on track for in August, is the figure that settles the argument.

Why this matters

Fintechbits compared Better’s two Q3 releases and found that the 13 October version led with $790 million of Tinman volume and gave no revenue figure, while the 14 October version showed revenue of $45.1 million against guidance of $49.0 million to $52.0 million. Volume held at $1.395 billion, but revenue fell faster than volume quarter on quarter. Better blames an $8 million proxy fight. Fourth-quarter revenue will show whether that explanation holds.

Primary sources

businesswire.com | PRESS RELEASE | https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261014003149/en/Better-Home-Finance-Holding-Company-Announces-Preliminary-Third-Quarter-2026-Results

businesswire.com | PRESS RELEASE | https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261013132668/en/Better-Reports-Preliminary-Q3-Results-Tinman-AI-Platform-Volume-of-%24790MM-Rises-64-Over-Prior-Year