SoFi Lifts 2026 Revenue Guidance to $5.04B After 44% Q3 Growth

SoFi Technologies reported third-quarter 2026 results on October 27, with adjusted net revenue up 44% to a record $1.4 billion and 17.1 million members, up 35%. It raised full-year 2026 guidance and gave a 2027 outlook a quarter earlier than usual. For anyone tracking whether a deposit-funded digital bank can grow this fast in a higher-rate environment, the quarter is a useful test case.

What did SoFi report for the third quarter?

According to SoFi's earnings release, adjusted EBITDA rose 70% to $469.8 million, a 34% margin, and adjusted net income was $243.0 million. GAAP net income was $241.0 million, up from $139.4 million a year earlier, per the 8-K filed with the SEC. Members reached 17.1 million and products reached 26.7 million, up 44%.

Fee-based revenue was about $570.6 million, or 42% of total revenue. That means the other 58% still depends on interest income, which is the main sensitivity for the story below.

Coverage of the beat varies in size. Investing.com put revenue at $1.39 billion against a $1.25 billion estimate, and Zacks, via Yahoo Finance, put adjusted revenue at $1.37 billion against $1.26 billion. Both show adjusted EPS of $0.18 against $0.17 expected. In short, revenue surprised by roughly $110 million to $140 million while EPS beat by a cent.

How much did SoFi raise its guidance?

SoFi now expects $5.04 billion of adjusted net revenue in 2026, up 40% year over year, with $1.66 billion of adjusted EBITDA and $840.0 million of net income. The Motley Fool's transcript summary says the revenue figure was previously $4.75 billion to $4.85 billion.

The company also introduced a 2027 outlook of $6.4 billion in adjusted net revenue, $2.24 billion in adjusted EBITDA and $0.90 of EPS. By my arithmetic from those figures, that is about 27% revenue growth over the new 2026 number and a 35% EBITDA margin. The Fool summary also describes the 27% growth figure.

Why does the rate environment matter here?

This is the most useful detail in the call. In remarks reproduced in the Yahoo Finance transcript, Noto said the original 2026 guidance assumed two rate cuts. Instead, SoFi has already had one rate hike and is positioned for two more this year.

SoFi benefits from this more than a typical fintech lender because it funds loans with deposits. GuruFocus's call summary shows total deposits grew $5.8 billion in the quarter to $51.3 billion. According to the call transcript, the consolidated net interest margin was 6.14%, up 16 basis points from the prior quarter.

Lending net interest income was $670 million, up 57% year over year. The transcript attributes this to loan growth, cash collections on loans that exceeded fair-value marks, and lower-than-expected losses.

What do the personal loan economics look like?

Personal loans are the engine. The Fool summary reports $12.6 billion of personal loan originations, up 69%, with a 7.6% risk-adjusted margin and a 3.4% charge-off rate, about 80 basis points better than a year ago. SoFi's call detailed the margin build:

Source: SoFi Q3 2026 earnings call transcript.

Total originations were a record $16.9 billion, per the same transcript. By my calculation, personal loans made up roughly three-quarters of that. This concentration is why analysts pressed management on it. The Yahoo summary notes that executives addressed lending concentration in Q&A. GuruFocus says personal loan originations are expected to grow more slowly in 2027, with growth shifting toward other asset types such as home loans.

Credit looks clean for now. The GuruFocus summary lists a 90-day personal loan delinquency rate of 42 basis points and a student loan charge-off rate of 63 basis points. Those are management-reported figures from a quarter of rising rates, so the test will be whether they hold as higher rates feed through to borrowers.

Is the loan platform business the hedge?

SoFi also originates loans for partners, which earns fees without using its own balance sheet. According to the GuruFocus summary, CFO Chris Lapointe said the unit originated a record $3.8 billion on behalf of partners and earned $153 million of revenue. He added that SoFi signed two new partners and that the fourth quarter is pacing ahead of that volume.

That matters for the 2027 target. If balance-sheet personal loan growth slows, the plan relies on partner-funded origination and newer products such as home loans. The same summary says SoFi is expanding into closed-end second mortgages and other asset types.

Where are the weak spots?

Not everything grew. In the transcript, Technology Platform revenue was $87 million, down 24% from a year earlier because of a previously disclosed client transition. GuruFocus says it grew 18% excluding that client. It also reports that SoFi Plus membership growth was below expectations and that the company made adjustments.

Capital is the other item to watch. An independent newsletter review says the CET1 ratio fell to 16.9% from 20.0%. GuruFocus reports a 17% total capital ratio against a 10.5% regulatory minimum. These may be different measures, and I could not verify either against the filing. Both point to the same thing: SoFi is using capital to fund loan growth. The newsletter says the 2027 guide assumes no new capital raise, but it attributes this to the author's earlier post, so treat it as unconfirmed.

The market's reaction was strong, though sources differ on the size. Investing.com's headline says shares jumped 11%, while the newsletter review says the stock rose 13% on the day. Intraday figures move, and I did not find a closing price from an exchange source.

What should business readers take from this?

For banks and fintech lenders, the lesson is about funding. SoFi says it uses deposit rates for customer acquisition in place of branches and outbound sales, per the GuruFocus Q&A summary. That strategy works while deposit growth stays cheap relative to loan yields. In this quarter, a 3.1% funding cost against a 12.8% coupon left plenty of room.

For partners and competitors, the loan platform business is the signal. A regulated bank that originates for others at record volume competes with marketplace lenders and with the balance sheets of its own clients.

For analysts, the next checkpoints are concrete: whether fourth-quarter originations beat the $3.8 billion platform pace, whether personal loan charge-offs stay near 3.4%, and whether the 2027 outlook holds if rates move differently from management's assumption. SoFi gave the 2027 numbers as a preliminary outlook, so they can change.