Rocket Companies, the parent company of Rocket Mortgages, made its public debut Thursday with 100 million shares at $18 per share. The Detroit company, which is now valued at $36 billion, earlier filed to issue 150 million shares at $20-22 per share before downgrading prior to the offering.
"As we think about what's important to us right now, it's really finding the right investors for us, more so than it is about the price," Julie Booth, CFO of Rocket Companies, told Cheddar. "We want to get those investors that understand us and understand the long-term vision that we have."
This marks another major IPO — the third largest this year — amid an uncertain economic climate, though Booth said Rocket Mortgages is adapting well to the new normal.
"We have been able to have the majority of our team members working from home, and it's gone very well, she said. "In fact, our production is seeing record levels right now."
While the mortgage giant is especially tethered to macroeconomic conditions, the housing market has been robust amid an otherwise lackluster economic recovery.
Booth attributes this to the unique way that coronavirus has made people think more about "the importance of home," as many workers continue to work remotely.
"I think folks are really considering how they want to be able to work best, and that is attributing a lot of the demand coming to market right now for new housing," Booth said.
Rocket Mortgages also anticipates interest rates to stay low for the foreseeable future and for demand to continue apace.
"If you think about the number of mortgages out there in an $11 trillion market, the majority of those loans are able to refinance right now and obtain a lower rate," Booth said. "With about two and a half trillion dollars or so of capacity in the industry at any point in time for a given year, there is quite a long runway for us to work through that as an industry."
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