What: Shares of On Deck Capital (ONDK) are plunging, falling by more than 34% as of 11:30 a.m. ET.
So what: The online loan marketplace posted an earnings loss of $0.13 per share in the first quarter, missing analyst expectations that it would lose only $0.07 per share.
Revenue came in about 11% lighter than analysts were anticipating. Shares of LendingClub (LC 1.42%) seem to be taking a sympathy fall, declining about 11% on the day.
The company shocked investors with a shift in its plans. On the post-earnings conference call, the company announced that it would push only 15% to 25% of its term loan originations into its marketplace compared to previous guidance that 35% to 45% of loan originations would be sold in its marketplace.
On Deck also reduced origination growth expectations to 30% to 35% for the full year 2016 vs. previous guidance of 45% to 50% origination growth.
Now what: On Deck Capital generally pitched lighter origination volumes as a result of prudence, suggesting that it was seeking higher-quality borrowers. For what it's worth, its provisions reflect this reality, as the company set aside 5.8% of originations for losses compared to 7.2% in the same quarter last year. But the market doesn't seem all that happy with pared-down growth expectations, even if it means that On Deck is lending to better borrowers.
