NEW YORK, June 17, 2026, 16:04 EDT
- Rocket Companies shares traded at $13.09, down 6.0% late Wednesday and sitting just above the session low. Volume topped 36 million shares.
- The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark rate steady at 3.50%-3.75%, sticking to its message that inflation is still over the 2% target. Rate-sensitive housing stocks stayed under pressure.
- BTIG downgraded Rocket to Neutral from Buy on Tuesday. The firm said Rocket’s valuation now prices in much of the platform premium.
Rocket Companies shares lost close to 6% late Wednesday, dragged down by higher rates pinching mortgage lenders and a new analyst downgrade casting doubt on any quick upside for the stock.
This matters for Rocket since its main mortgage business is tied to borrowing costs. When rates go up, buying homes and refinancing—where borrowers swap old loans for new ones, often to get a lower payment—generally slow down.
Fed left its benchmark rate at 3.50% to 3.75%, saying inflation remains high. The central bank’s statement did not offer hints of major relief for mortgage rates. Reuters said Fed projections show nine officials expect another rate hike before the end of the year.
Mortgage rates edged down slightly, but that hasn’t moved the needle on affordability. The national average for a 30-year fixed loan came in at 6.53% on Wednesday, per Bankrate numbers reported by WSJ Buy Side. Payments are still steep for most buyers.
Rocket came under pressure from a downgrade. BTIG’s Douglas Harter cut the stock to Neutral from Buy, Benzinga reported. Rocket finished Monday at $13.91, just before the downgrade was announced.
Rocket wasn’t alone. UWM Holdings lost roughly 6.6%. loanDepot was down about 6.1%. Mortgage lenders across the board sold off as investors reacted to the Fed message.
Rocket’s recent quarterly numbers gave bulls a foothold. The company posted first-quarter total revenue, net, of $2.94 billion. GAAP net income was $297 million, with adjusted EBITDA at $738 million. The servicing portfolio reached $2.1 trillion, covering 9.4 million loans at March’s end.
Rocket CEO Varun Krishna told a J.P. Morgan conference in May the company isn’t just sitting around for rates to drop. Krishna said 70% of Rocket’s revenue is now “less rate sensitive.” He also described servicing as providing an annuity-type income in today’s higher-rate market. Q4 Investors
Pending home sales picked up in May, rising 3.8% for the month and hitting a six-month high, Reuters said. But higher mortgage rates and a lack of homes for sale still weighed on the market, according to the same report. “More supply is needed to help moderate home price growth,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said. Reuters
Rocket priced $1.5 billion in senior notes due 2031 and 2034 last week, bumping up from the company’s earlier $1.2 billion plan. Rocket said it will use the proceeds to pay down Rocket Mortgage notes coming due in 2026 and 2028, plus other debt.
The risk is clear. If inflation doesn’t cool and the Fed hints at another hike, mortgage rates could stay high, keeping applications sluggish and pushing out any gains from Rocket’s Redfin and Mr. Cooper tie-ups. If rates drop faster, the shares could look too cheap in a hurry.
