Enova: Record Q4 originations with little competition in sight

Enova originated $1.1B in small busines loans in Q4 2024. And it’s a wide open market, according to the company. “We’ve not seen kind of a sustained competitive push on either the consumer or small business side in a very, very long time,” said Enova CEO David Fisher during the quarterly earnings call. “And again, I think evidenced by our ability to take really significant volume in Q4 shows that to be the case.”

Fisher added that “you do see people kind of poking in and out” of the market “but they tend to be small and they tend to be fleeting.”

The economy is also playing into their success.

“On the small business side, I would say if anything, we feel better about the health of small businesses across the country,” Fisher said. “I think they’ve had one more year to build strength, kind of following the pandemic and following the high inflationary years of 2022, early 2023. And so we’re feeling also very good about the general health of small businesses.”

Fisher cited a joint report it prepared with Ocrolus this past November in which a survey found “that small businesses feel increasingly optimistic about future growth as over 90% of small business owners are expecting moderate to significant growth over the next six months.” It also showed “a meaningful shift in where small businesses are first seeking capital as nearly 75% of small business owners reported bypassing traditional banks in favor of alternative lenders like Enova.”

Charge-offs have been on a downward trend for Enova as well and the company feels good about how diversified its portfolio is.