Better (BETR) reported first-quarter loan volume of $1.64 billion, up 89% from $868 million a year earlier and above the high end of its prior guidance range of $1.40 billion to $1.55 billion.
But for mortgage professionals, the bigger story may be what the results reveal about how Better is using AI, partnerships, and home equity products to reshape its origination model in a still-challenging market.
Tinman AI Platform volume reached $821 million in Q1, up 404% year over year from $163 million, and accounted for 50% of Better’s total loan volume, compared with 19% a year ago. Direct-to-consumer loan volume totaled $824 million, also representing 50% of production.
By product, refinance lending remained Better’s largest category at $854 million, or 52% of total loan volume. Purchase volume totaled $588 million, or 36%, while HELOC volume reached $203 million, or 12%.
Year-over-year growth was driven primarily by refinance lending, which increased 542%. HELOC volume grew 30%, while purchase volume increased 2%.
Better funded 5,018 total loans during the quarter, up 69% from 2,975 loans in Q1 2025.
Tinman AI Platform
The results also show Better continuing its shift away from a purely direct-to-consumer lender toward a platform and embedded-finance model built around its Tinman AI partnerships.
According to Better’s investor presentation, operations labor cost per funded loan fell from $1,268 in Q1 2025 to $719 in Q1 2026, while contribution margin per funded loan increased from $500 to $2,296 over the same period.
The company said Tinman can automate up to 80% of repetitive loan production tasks and has supported more than $110 billion in originations.
Better also signaled that home equity products are becoming increasingly important to its strategy as higher mortgage rates continue limiting traditional refinance opportunities across the industry.
During the quarter, Better expanded its partnership with Stripe to launch a HELOC-linked spending product expected to debut this summer. The company said borrowers will be able to access approved HELOC funds via a mobile wallet-enabled card that offers 1% cash back on eligible purchases.
Embedded Mortgage Partnerships
The lender also continued expanding its embedded mortgage partnership strategy.
Better said a top-five non-bank mortgage originator partner went live on the Tinman AI platform in February, initially launching HELOCs within the partner’s direct-to-consumer division. The company also said its NEO Home Loans partnership expanded from a $1.50 billion run rate at onboarding to a $2.97 billion run rate in March 2026.
Additional partnerships currently live on the platform include Intuit Credit Karma, Finance of America, and Coinbase. Better’s investor materials said Credit Karma’s member base includes 149 million users and that more than 60% of Americans who took out a mortgage in 2025 were Credit Karma members.
Beyond origination growth, Better spent much of the quarter focused on liquidity and operational restructuring.
The company said it completed a $69 million underwritten public offering in Q2, expanded warehouse capacity from $575 million at the end of December to $850 million, and launched an active sale process for its U.K.-based bank, which has now been classified as discontinued operations.
Better also announced $25 million in annualized cost reductions expected to begin flowing through the business in Q2, with savings tied to corporate overhead reductions, lower vendor spending and the planned U.K. bank divestiture.
The warehouse expansion may also serve as a broader signal to the mortgage industry that counterparties remain willing to provide additional capacity to lenders showing volume growth and operational scaling despite ongoing market volatility.
Profitability
“Q1 2026 was a strong quarter for Better. We grew loan volume 89% year over year and exceeded the high end of our previously-issued guidance with revenue up 52% year over year. Tinman AI platform volume made up 50% of our loan volume, a level we expect to build from,” said Vishal Garg, CEO and founder of Better.
Total net revenues rose 52% year over year to $47.5 million, compared with $31.3 million in Q1 2025. But the company’s GAAP net loss widened to $70.3 million, compared with a $50.6 million loss a year earlier.
The company’s adjusted EBITDA loss improved to negative $18.8 million, compared with negative $36 million in Q1 2025, marking Better’s fifth consecutive quarter of adjusted EBITDA improvement. Better also reaffirmed its target of reaching adjusted EBITDA breakeven by the end of Q3 2026.
Looking ahead, Better guided Q2 loan volume to between $1.575 billion and $1.725 billion, total net revenues to between $53 million and $56 million, and adjusted EBITDA to between negative $12.5 million and negative $14 million.
The company also highlighted its Coinbase partnership for a crypto-backed mortgage product that allows borrowers to pledge cryptocurrency assets instead of liquidating holdings for a down payment. Better said the product is designed to help crypto investors preserve asset exposure while avoiding capital gains taxes tied to liquidation.
All figures are from Better’s Q1 2026 earnings release and investor presentation.
