Rocket Companies Experiencing Massive Growth, Expanding New Business Platforms Ahead Of Fed Interest Rate Hikes

• WSJ reports that Rocket has experienced big gains in mortgage originations, but the stock price hasn’t followed.
• The mortgage giant is expanding its Rocket Homes and Rocket Autos platforms ahead of Fed interest rate hikes, along with purchasing Truebill, an all-in-one finance app.
• In 2020, Rocket ranked sixth in the industry in purchase volume, the company plans to issue 25% of all U.S. mortgages by 2030.

Detroit-based Rocket Companies Inc RKT saw its mortgage originations double in 2020, then increase by another third through the fall of 2021. Now, investors are considering the potential impact of this year’s anticipated Fed interest rate hikes.

What Happened: Rocket has seen incredible growth over the past two years, with a large part of the company’s business coming from loan refinancing. About one out of every 14 mortgages in the U.S. went through Rocket in 2021, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The company generates most of its purchase loans from its partner channel, working with companies including Credit Karma and Salesforce.com Inc CRM.

Rocket's stock, meanwhile, have languished since going public in 2020 at $18 a share. The stock is now trading around $14, near its 52-week low of 13.84.

With the Fed expected to begin raising interest rate as soon as this spring, the mortgage giant is expanding other sectors of its business. The company launched Rocket Homes, a Zillow-like listings platform in 2018, while also developing the Rocket Autos platform which connects car buyers to dealers.

Last month, Rocket purchased Truebill, a startup behind an all-in-one finance app designed to help people monitor their budgets each month, by organizing accounts and tracking spending.

What’s Next: Rocket said there were 153 million visitors across its platform in 2020, a growth of 61% in a single year. The company’s Rocket Homes listing website is expected to convert additional visitors into customers, while the acquisition of Truebill adds about 2.5 million users to Rocket's platforms.

Rocket anticipates continuing growth this decade. In 2020, the mortgage loan provider ranked sixth in the industry in purchase volume, up from 12th place in 2014, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. Rocket says it plans to issue 25% of all U.S. mortgages by 2030, approximately triple its current share. Wells Fargo & Co WFC was the last single lender to have control of such a large portion of the market in 2012.

Rocket shares closed at 14.16 on Friday, up 1.03%. 

Related Link: Rocket Companies Announces Executive Changes, Promotions To Start New Year

Photo: Courtesy of Maia C on Flickr.