Oportun Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:OPRT) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Lance Jessurun: Got it. Appreciate that. And then in terms of the fair value, I know we talked a little bit about what drove it this quarter. Obviously, it gets really lumpy, and a lot of it, you kind of attributed to lingering inflation plus gas prices. But if you could give us any color just on what you’re seeing from your customer base? I know, obviously, they’re always kind of in the state of a permanent recession, but we’re in a new scenario where basically everything costs a little more. Anything that you can give us in terms of color on how you see the broader market evolving over the next year or two that kind of gives us a little insight into how we should think about modeling the fair value marks, especially as we’re a little distance from that side of the borrower group?

Raul Vazquez: Sure. So, I’m certainly reluctant to try to give you a view over the next year or two, but I can certainly give you a sense of what we’re hearing from our members when we speak to them from a collections perspective. So, the top reason that people give for why they’re having trouble making their payments is just some sort of an income delay, right? So, their employers having trouble giving them the income that they’ve earned in that particular time. So that’s the number one reason. Number two is someone has lost their job or they’re unemployed for a period of time. We’ve stated in the past that our borrowers, right, when they lose their job, they quickly try to pivot to find another job. But that’s certainly the number two reason why people are unable to make their payments.

Number three is something that’s medical related. So, some sort of a disability or an illness. And then, the last one, I’ll just focus on the top four, is, again, kind of work related. So, they’ve had a pay cut or they’ve had reduced work hours. So, again, we’re just seeing this kind of softening environment is impacting them. And sorry, that the last one is relevant also in terms of the comments we provided, other bills and expenses, right? Just again, struggling with just the expenses in other areas. So, it tends to be something related to work, something related to other expenses, whether that is an illness or something that is non-medical related, Lance.

Lance Jessurun: Got it. Thanks so much.

Raul Vazquez: Sure.

Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our next question is coming from Sanjay Sakhrani from KBW. Your line is now live.

Sanjay Sakhrani: Thanks. Maybe you could just talk about the expense reductions. Could you just talk about what it does to sort of the muscles on revenue growth and maybe even on collections as your cutting costs? I’m just trying to think through the implications it might have to the fundamentals.

Raul Vazquez: Sure. So, on the collection side, there was very, very little done that would touch servicing and collections. In this environment, we thought it was critical to your point, Sanjay, to continue to have the muscle mass that we built up in those areas. On originations, we’ve been cutting the marketing budget. You’ve heard us say that throughout the year. So, there were cuts to the marketing team because we do expect approval rates to continue to be lower than they have been historically. And as a consequence, we’re not going to be spending as much in outbound marketing. So therefore, we felt we could cut some of the marketing team. So, there really were, I would say, deep muscle cuts relative to what we need in originations or in servicing.

Sanjay Sakhrani: Thanks. And maybe just a follow-up on all these credit-related questions. I’m just trying to think through what gives you the confidence that you’ve made the proper adjustments on the underwriting scorecards to continue to grow? I understand you’re not growing on a net basis, but just you’re still originating. I’m just curious sort of — I understand the vintages are definitely performing. But like what kind of adjustments have been made? And what makes this backdrop so much difficult than prior cycles? I’m just trying to think through all of that. Thanks.