Better's stock nosedives in Wall Street debut

Digital lender Better endured a difficult debut on Wall Street Thursday, with its stock falling 93% in its first day of trading.

The company, now known as Better Home & Finance, closed at $1.15 per share under the "BETR" symbol at the end of its first day on the Nasdaq stock market. Shares of Aurora Acquisition Corp., the special purpose acquisition company that Better merged with, closed at $17.45 yesterday.

The lender earlier this month completed its merger with the SPAC first announced in May 2021.

In a statement Friday morning, Garg said the merger was priced in 2021 amid record-low rates.

"We believe that when interest rates normalize, our technology powered by Tinman will drive long-term growth and create shareholder value," Garg's statement said. "With $560 million in additional capital, we are one of the 5 most well-funded mortgage lenders in the industry."

Affiliates of Better sponsors NaMa Capital and SoftBank delivered $565 million to the lender at the time of its debut, including $528 million from the depository, a Japanese conglomerate. The SoftBank convertible notes include 1% interest per year and they mature in 2028, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. 

NaMa, formerly known as Novator Capital, also chose not to fund an additional $100 million at the time of closing per an earlier amendment to the merger, SEC filings said. The move reduced SoftBank's maximum commitment down from $650 million to $550 million.

Better is no stranger to adversity, facing widespread negative media coverage following founder and CEO Vishal Garg's notorious firing of hundreds of employees over a Zoom call in December 2021. Since then, the company has shed much of its workforce in several mass layoff rounds, and posted major financial losses including an $89.9 million loss in the first quarter this year. 

Garg in an interview last week suggested his team has "been through war together now," and the company was much stronger as a result of its struggles. Better leaders told National Mortgage News the capital infusion, along with plans to expand its One Day Mortgage offering and Tinman loan origination software, would be reasons to believe in the company's future. 

The lender's rough trading kickoff comes at one of the toughest moments for the industry in years, with mortgage rates Thursday reaching a 22-year high average of 7.23%, according to Freddie Mac. Experts anticipate origination volume to bottom out this year but climb slowly next year.

The lender is trading under the symbols "BETR" and "BETRW", after previously trading under Aurora's AURC symbol.