Atlanticus (ATLC) 2026年第三季度业绩电话会：营收增长60%，调整后每股收益3.00美元

核心要点

• Atlanticus公布2026年第三季度摊薄每股收益为4.87美元，其中包括来自一次性交易相关项目的每股1.87美元收益。调整后摊薄每股收益为3.00美元。
• 总营业收入及其他收益同比增长60%至7.76亿美元，其中包括来自Mercury的2.05亿美元贡献。
• 归属于普通股股东的净利润同比增长300%至9300万美元。调整后平均净资产收益率为30%，高于管理层设定的20%回报目标。
• 管理应收账款达71亿美元，同比增长8%，环比增长3.4%，专有信贷与通用信贷业务均实现增长。
• 信贷表现环比保持稳定：综合本金净核销率从2026年第二季度的17.7%降至17.3%。
• Atlanticus以约7120万美元出售了其CAR汽车金融业务，并以2750万美元现金出售了Mercury文字商标及相关知识产权，使管理层得以将资源集中于回报率更高的消费信贷业务。

关键财务数据

贷款公允价值变动为负4.18亿美元，而去年同期为负2.77亿美元。该影响被有利的模型假设变更、客户还款表现改善、Mercury资产组合持续向好的表现，以及因或有对价公允价值下降而录得的800万美元收益部分抵消。

业务与经营表现

Atlanticus代表银行合作伙伴的新增开户数连续第三个季度创历史新高。管理层表示，业务增长仍受单元层级盈利能力门槛的约束，并非放宽风险参数所致。

剔除Mercury后，管理层估计营业收入增速处于高十几个百分点至20%出头的区间。零售信贷的增长反映了战略合作伙伴业务量的提升，而通用信用卡的增长则得益于对数字营销渠道、特定渠道漏斗和核保模型的持续投入。

无论在存量资产组合还是新发放贷款方面，Mercury的表现均持续优于公司的收购模型预期。由于Atlanticus在去年同期仅持有Mercury约半个九月的时间，可比数据仍受到收购时间点的影响。

服务与营销活动的增加，加上运营平台规模扩大，推高了费用支出。然而，营业收入增速快于营业费用增速，营业费用率略有改善。此外，随着Mercury的整合以及平台规模效应带来效率提升，客户服务与获客成本亦实现环比下降。

出售CAR汽车金融业务带来了约2000万美元收益。由于CAR代表了整个汽车金融板块，Atlanticus未来将把该业务列为已终止经营业务进行报告。Mercury知识产权交易不包含与Mercury品牌项目相关的信用卡应收账款。Atlanticus保留了该品牌12个月的营销权以及额外五年的服务权，以支持品牌重塑。

管理层展望

管理层预计，随着银行合作伙伴的产品向更广泛的消费群体拓展，逾期率将小幅上升。该公司表示，这部分应收账款通常具有更高的收益率，预计随着时间推移将产生更具吸引力的回报。

由于成本较高的通用信用卡业务增速快于获客成本较低的业务线，整个资产组合的获客成本也大概率会上升。Atlanticus计划仅在预期回报达到或超过其门槛标准的情况下继续扩张。

出售CAR汽车金融业务及Mercury知识产权所得收益预计将投资于回报率更高、增长更快的业务线。

风险与关注点

管理层重点指出了高于目标的通胀水平、汽油价格以及更广泛的宏观经济不确定性。但管理层同时表示，在稳定的就业市场等因素支撑下，Atlanticus服务的客户群体依然展现出具有韧性的消费与还款行为。

直邮营销竞争与18个月前相比仍处高位，不过管理层认为竞争依然保持理性。该公司正加大对数字渠道的依赖，而数字渠道的获客成本和平均逾期率可能会更高。

尽管更高的收益率有助于支撑预期回报，但更广泛的客群结构可能会推高逾期率。Atlanticus表示，将继续监测获客、资产组合、客户服务和第三方数据，并在获得经验证据支持时调整核保标准。

分析师问答要点

• 内生增长：管理层估计，剔除Mercury后的营收增速大约处于高十几个百分点至20%出头的区间。战略零售合作伙伴和数字化通用信用卡渠道是主要驱动因素。
• 获客成本：管理层认为当前整个资产组合的获客成本尚未达到明确峰值。向通用信用卡及成本更高的营销渠道倾斜的业务结构转变，可能会进一步推高成本。
• 客群结构：数字渠道使Atlanticus能够以管理层认为具有吸引力的回报水平触达更广泛的消费者群体。这些账户往往伴随着更高的逾期率，但同时也带来更高的收益率和预期回报。
• 竞争环境：直邮业务量有所增加，但Atlanticus正优先推进数字化模型开发和特定渠道营销，而非扩大核保风险。

财报电话会完整实录

完整财报电话会议逐字稿

管理层陈述

Operator

Good afternoon and welcome everyone to the Atlanticus third quarter 2026 earnings call. Today's conference is being recorded. The lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press the star key followed by the number 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 1 again. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Dan Mock, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Unknown Speaker

Thank you, Operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Atlanticus released results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026, this afternoon, after market close. If you did not receive a copy of our earnings press release, you may obtain it from the investor relations section of our website at investors.atlanticus.com. We have also posted an updated investor presentation. With me on today's call are Jeff Howard, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Bill McCamey, Chief Financial Officer. This call is being webcast and will be archived on the investor relations section of our website. Today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current views with respect to, among other things, earnings growth, returns on equity, portfolio performance, the sufficiency of available capital, underwriting, delinquency and charge-off rates, the use of proceeds from the sales of the company, and the use of the company's current views. car auto finance operations and the Mercury Intellectual Property, the rebranding of the Mercury Program, and future financial and operating results.

These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. Please review our earnings release and the risk factors discussed in our SEC filings. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and except to the extent required by federal securities laws. The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. In addition, during the call, we may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release for important disclosures regarding such measures, including reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jeff.

Jeffrey Howard

Thanks, Dan. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We are pleased to report another very strong quarter reflecting the strength of our core business and continued progress in executing our strategy. Diluted EPS was $4.87, including $1.87 from one-time items associated with two transactions completed during the quarter, which we will address later in our comments. Excluding these one-time items, adjusted diluted EPS was $3, and adjusted return on average equity was 30%, well exceeding our 20% return goals and reaffirming the earnings power of our platform. During the quarter, we achieved record performance across almost every operating metric. We achieved records for managed receivables, account originations on behalf of our bank partners, customers served, purchase activity, revenue, and most importantly, profitability. This success was derived from sustained organic growth, the ongoing and successful integration of the Mercury acquisition, and the continued resiliency of the customers we serve.

Our sustained organic growth is being driven by our third consecutive quarter of record new account originations on behalf of our bank partners. While I talk about growth, it's important to reiterate that a tight focus on unit-level profitability remains our guide for account origination levels. We lean into growth as we see attractive returns. We have over 40 models in production at any given time and are continuously updating and refining those models for better outcomes within the sub-segments across our business. Growth is a byproduct of that process. Accordingly, the increases in originations are not the result of risk expansion. Our growth stems from ongoing investment in newer marketing channels and model development within those channels, along with continued growth with strategic clients in our retail credit business.

The Mercury acquisition continues to deliver better than model performance on both the back book and new origination volumes. The Mercury acquisition was a significant contributor to both revenue and earnings growth, compounded by the fact that we only owned the business for approximately half of September in the prior year period. As for the consumer, we are still mindful of inflation levels being above target. of gas prices and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. The headlines regarding the state of the consumer are not new, but our data continues to show that the consumers we serve remain resilient and rational, making appropriate changes to spending while exhibiting consistent payment behaviors. Much of the negative headwinds appear to be offset by a very stable employment market. That being said, we will continue to monitor metrics across numerous acquisition, portfolio, customer service, and third-party data attributes and lean heavily on our dynamic infrastructure to quickly enact empirically derived changes in underwriting when necessary. Now let me briefly cover the one-time items this quarter.

First, we completed the sale of our car auto finance operations to an unaffiliated buyer for approximately $71.2 million in total consideration, which resulted in a gain of approximately $20 million. While car had been a contributor to our business for over 20 years, this is the first time we've had a sale of our car auto finance operations to an unaffiliated buyer for approximately 71.2 million. sale represented an opportunity to concentrate our capital and management resources on the consumer credit products where we see the strongest opportunities for long-term value creation. Second, we completed the sale of the Mercury wordmark and related intellectual property for $27.5 million in cash. The transaction did not include any credit card receivables associated with a Mercury branded program. Under the agreement, we have the right to use the brand for marketing purposes for 12 months and for servicing for an additional five years, giving us ample time for the necessary rebranding. We view these transactions as a continued refinement of our strategic focus, and the proceeds will be invested in our higher return, higher growth lines of business. We are pleased with another record-breaking quarter for Atlanticus and a period of important strategic progress.

We are making deliberate decisions to direct capital towards opportunities with the greatest growth and return potential. This reflects our long-term focus on building the capabilities and reach to become the preferred financial partner for everyday Americans. We're proud of the progress our team has made and are committed to carrying that work forward. Now I'll turn it over to Bill to walk through our financial results in more detail.

William McCamey

Fantastic. Thanks, Jeff. It really was a great quarter. Let me start by addressing a few reporting notes. First, on CAR Auto Finance, CAR comprised our entire auto finance segment, so that will be reported as discontinued operations going forward. Second, because we acquired Mercury near the end of Q3 last year, the year-over-year comparisons vary by metric. Period end measures such as managed receivables reflect the full Mercury portfolio at both quarter ends. Quarter-long measures, such as revenue and charge-offs, reflect Mercury's results only for the portion of the prior-year quarter that we owned it. Now let me turn to the income statement.

Total operating revenue and other income was $776 million, up 60% from a year ago. The increase reflected growth in both general purpose and private label receivables, along with a $205 million contribution from Mercury. Net margin reached $238 million, up 80% versus the prior year period, as revenue offset increased funding costs and fair value. Changes in fair value of loans were negative $418 million compared with negative $277 million a year ago. Changes in fair value of loans were partially offset by favorable assumption changes, improvements in customer served, continued favorable performance of the Mercury portfolio, as well as an $8 million gain related to a reduction in the fair value of contingent consideration. Net income attributable to common shareholders was $93 million, or $4.87 per share, up 300 percent from last year's third quarter. Adjusted diluted EPS, excluding the transactions-related gains Jeff described earlier, was $3.

At quarter end, managed receivables totaled $7.1 billion, up 8% year-over-year, and 3.4% sequentially. Growth was broad-based across both private label and general purpose receivables. We'll continue to grow where we meet or exceed our return thresholds relying on our 30 years of data aggregation to drive decisions. Credit remains stable quarter-on-quarter. The combined principal net charge-off ratio declined to 17.3% from 17.7% last quarter. We expect delinquency ratios to increase marginally as our bank partners' offerings mix shift to a broader range of consumers. These receivables carry higher yields, which we expect to result in a more profitable asset over time. overall. Interest expense was $118 million compared with $75 million in the prior year quarter.

The increase reflected the larger receivable base and the financing used to support it. Total operating expenses were $162 million compared with $103 million. Higher servicing and marketing activity along with the larger operating platform contributed to the increase. We continue to see customer service CPAs lower sequentially as we integrate the Mercury portfolio and realize benefits of scale on the combined platform. As well, revenue growth outpaced expense growth during the quarter, and our operating expense ratio improved modestly as the platform continues to scale. Turning to the balance sheet, total assets were $7.8 billion and total equity was $808 million. Cash and restricted cash totaled $736 million.

Along with cash generated by the portfolio, availability under our financing facilities, and access to the capital markets, these resources support our operating and financing needs for future growth. We appreciate the continued engagement from our investors and the increased interest in Atlanticus. Our focus remains on executing our strategy and managing the business with our long-term perspective on unit profitability and earnings growth. With that, I'll turn the call back over to the operator.

Operator

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you have dialed in and would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad to raise your hand and join the queue. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star 1 again. We'll go first to Randy Benner at Texas Capitol.

Unknown Speaker

Hey, yes, thanks for that. That was a good quarter for sure. So I'll ask a few on the top line and kind of revenue and production if I can. I guess the first is, And I apologize if I missed if you broke this out, but did you break out kind of organic growth X mercury, or is that getting harder to do? How would you kind of parse out growth of kind of, Atlanticus before Mercury and then with Mercury?.

Unknown Speaker

Yes, we did not break that out, but I'm happy to share it. And I'm giving you an estimation. It's probably in the high teens, low 20% growth rate, top line without Mercury.

Unknown Speaker

So near 20x mercury. Yes, okay. Well, that's high. So I guess is it growth or part of the growth? I mean, I feel like in previous calls, there's been, you know, competition is a concern. There's always, you know, this kind of perpetual worry about the consumer, which seemingly is delayed here. But what, you know, what... What is it? Are you having less competition? Are you just winning because your analytics are better? Are there particular partners that are delivering more, just kind of love to understand how that velocity of your organic growth is so strong.

Jeffrey Howard

Yes, no, great question and thank you for asking. I would say it really boils down to two things. One, in a retail credit business we just continue to grow with some of our strategic partners on a year-over-year basis. Again, that's top line and AR growth. And it's just due to us continuing to deliver for those partners, to find ways to add more value to those partners. And they lean on us for more of their volume over time. So, you know, we're winning share there in that market.

On the general purpose side, it's a continuation of what we talked about in previous quarters. We are seeing, you know, I would say heightened competition on the direct mail channel, although it's rational. There's just more volume in that channel than we experienced 18 months ago. But we continue to invest in our digital marketing channels, and we've talked about us continuing to get smarter on those channels, to add more funnels across those channels, to build models that are specific to those channels, get better results, therefore, and then continue to invest more in marketing dollars in those channels. So that's what's really driving the growth on our GPCC side.

Unknown Speaker

All right, that's helpful. I'll drop back in the queue. Thank you.

Operator

And as a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star 1. We'll go next to David Sharf at JMP Securities.

分析师问答

David Scharf

All right. Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. Congrats on the results. Jeff, maybe one follow-up a little bit on the last question. You know, you had been noting... as you said, heightened competition in direct mail for quite a while. I think last quarter you may have said... overall CAC was up about five percent. As you think about just the trends in direct mail as well as just the marketing channel mix. Do you feel like kind of CAC has reached a high watermark as we think about kind of modeling overall OPEX as well as just marketing efficiencies near term?.

Jeffrey Howard

Yes, look, some of it comes down to mix shift across our lines of business as well. We are spending more on marketing because we do see good stable credit performance and some of the channels that we're leaning into do have higher acquisition costs. And again, with GPCC, that's our general purpose credit card portfolio, outgrowing the other parts of our business, which have lower acquisition costs, I would say, you know, it's more likely than not that our CPAs at the portfolio-wide level will continue to go up.

David Scharf

Got it. That's helpful. And I guess as a follow-up, it may be a related question. you know, the mix has not changed at all. You did reference a comment about kind of expect a little bit higher delinquencies in lieu of kind of a, I think in your words, a broader range of consumers. Can you just expand on that a little bit?.

Jeffrey Howard

Yes, look, we're currently looking at our models and looking for opportunities where we at or above target level returns. Our digital channel is a great example of that. We're seeing a broader swath of the consumer.

David Scharf

Yes, look, I, you know, we're constantly tweaking our models and looking for opportunities where we see, you know, at above our returns. You know, our digital channel is a great example of that, right? We're seeing a broader consumer in.

Jeffrey Howard

those channels. We're able to, at very attractive returns, bring in, you know, what I consider a broader range of consumers at prices and returns that we find attractive. They tend to have, on average, higher delinquencies and and higher yields and therefore higher returns. That's just where we're seeing the investment opportunity right now. Got it. Understood. Thank you.

Operator

And that concludes our Q&A session. I will now turn the conference back over to Jeff Howard for closing remarks.

Jeffrey Howard

Yeah, thank you all for your participation. In closing, we continue to see really strong performance across our core general purpose and retail credit lines of business, and we obviously remain very pleased with the performance of our Mercury acquisition. Our team continues to deliver, and this quarter delivered record-breaking results, which we're also very, very proud of. You know, this reflects our continued progress and our commitment to expand access to financial services for everyday Americans, and we're proud to now serve and help almost 7 million of those Americans meet their day-to-day financial needs. It's our belief that we at Atlanticus are better positioned now than at any point in our 30-year history, and we look forward to building on that progress in the quarters ahead. So we appreciate your support and look forward to our next call.

Operator

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

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