Rocket Companies Shares Surge On Realtor.com Partnership, Strong Housing Data

Rocket Companies Inc RKT shares traded higher by 7.6% on Thursday after the company inked a new deal with popular real estate listings platform Realtor.com.

What Happened? Homebuyers shopping on Realtor.com will now see advertising from Rocket Mortgage for pre-approved mortgages. The ads will allow Realtor.com users to connect directly to a Rocker mortgage application, according to Inman.

Why It’s Important: Rocket shares have been on a bumpy ride since its August IPO, but investors were certainly bullish on the Realtor.com deal.

Rocket subsidiary Quicken Loans is leaning into an extremely strong 2020 housing market. In early September, the company reported a $3.5 billion second-quarter profit on revenue of more than $5 billion. Loan origination volume was a record $72.3 billion for the quarter, up 126% from a year ago.

The housing market has been booming since the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near 0% back in March to stimulate the economy. On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors reported a record 8.8% monthly increase in pending home sales in the month of August.

Related Link: 'Tech Driven Growth Story': Analysts Initiate Coverage Of Rocket Companies Following Quiet Period

What’s Next? Investors will be watching to see if the housing market says hot in the fourth quarter and if the Realtor.com deal has any significant impact on Rocket’s numbers.

“We’re in a state of affairs in lots of areas of the nation the place stock is low, houses are promoting in days, so for a shopper to have the ability to discover a dwelling, get a verified approval, get that data day or night time to their agent and make a seamless supply is totally vital,” Jay Farner, CEO of Rocket Companies, told Inman.

Rocket's stock traded around $21.32 per share at publication time.