Walker & Dunlop Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
Red is off the table with no proven risk to substance: $1,720.2 million of equity, an operating subsidiary net worth of $1.0 billion against a $356.8 million regulatory requirement, operational liquidity of $178.1 million against $71.0 million required, every financial covenant in the credit and warehouse agreements met as of March 31, 2026, no going concern language, a profitable first quarter of 2026, and recurring servicing fees that prevented a loss through three lean years. Green is off the table because a material operating question is open: earnings power has fallen to one fifth of the 2021 level ($1.64 against $8.15 per share), the company's own five-year goal was missed at 62 percent attainment, the payout has exceeded reported profit under U.S. accounting rules since 2025, defaults in the at-risk portfolio rose 54 percent within a year, and a fraud case leaves $100.0 million of repurchase obligation outstanding with dates in 2027 and 2028, its allowance having more than quintupled from $5.4 million to $29.1 million in a single quarter. A company with a durable core, a sound regulatory position and an unproven return to its old earnings power — hence yellow. That the stock sits roughly two thirds below its high and carries a price-to-earnings ratio of about 31 on 2025 earnings are price questions, not quality questions; they belong in the text, not in the traffic light. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Walker & Dunlop is the savings-account reflex in pure form: a good 5 percent dividend yield, seven years without a cut, a price about two thirds below the all-time high — and underneath it a business whose 2025 revenue of $1,234.3 million was almost back at a record while earnings per share fell from $8.15 to $1.64 and the payout of $2.68 exceeded them for the first time. The backbone is real: a $146.4 billion servicing portfolio, $85.4 million of fees per quarter and roughly $600 million of hidden reserve in the servicing rights. The price for it is $14.2 billion of maximum contingent liability against $1,720.2 million of equity, loan defaults up 54 percent, and $100.0 million of repurchase obligation out of a fraud case. Not investment advice.
Recurring revenue
The servicing portfolio grew to $146.4 billion as of March 31, 2026 (prior year $135.6 billion), servicing fees to $85.4 million for the quarter, and assets under management stand at $18.5 billion. This income is contractual and arrives even when the transaction market is frozen — it is the backbone of the business and the reason the 2023 to 2025 drought produced no losses.
Earnings power
Revenue of $1,234.3 million in 2025 was 98 percent of the 2021 record, but net income of $56.2 million was only 21 percent of $265.8 million; per share, profit fell from $8.15 to $1.64. The first quarter of 2026 shows recovery at $15.9 million after $2.8 million — one quarter is not proof, and the company's own five-year revenue goal of $2 billion was missed at 62 percent. On March 10, 2026 management restated the very same revenue mark, now for 2030 ("Journey to '30," alongside earnings per share of $8.00 to $10.00).
Payout policy
The dividend exceeded earnings for the first time in 2025: $2.68 against $1.64 per share, or 163 percent. For 2026 the quarterly rate was raised to $0.68, putting $0.68 of dividends against $0.46 of earnings in the first quarter. The payout is covered only on management's adjusted measure (adjusted EBITDA of $73.8 million in the first quarter of 2026), not under U.S. accounting rules — and a $75.0 million repurchase program runs alongside it.
Risk sharing & credit quality
Under the Fannie Mae DUS program the company faces maximum liability of $14.2 billion as of March 31, 2026 — 8.3 times its $1,720.2 million of equity — with $38.7 million reserved. Defaulted loans rose 54 percent within a year to $167.5 million (0.17 percent to 0.24 percent of the at-risk portfolio). On top sit $100.0 million of repurchase obligations over falsified documents, falling due in 2027 and 2028.
Balance sheet & funding
The operating subsidiary's net worth of $1.0 billion as of March 31, 2026 was nearly three times the $356.8 million regulatory requirement, every financial covenant was met, and the servicing rights carry a hidden reserve of roughly $600 million (fair value $1.4 billion against $795.8 million of carrying value). Against that stand 58.5 percent goodwill and intangibles inside equity, and warehouse capacity of which only $1.6 billion out of $6.8 billion is committed.
Worth Noting
Walker & Dunlop reached our research list through our own raw-data screen with three conditions: a dividend yield above 4.5 percent, at least seven years without a dividend cut, and a price more than half below the all-time high (price and valuation data as of July 29, 2026; last closing price July 28, 2026). The lists produced by our in-house stock scanner are recalculated daily and are therefore deliberately not cited as evidence.
The most recent periodic report is the quarterly report 10-Q for March 31, 2026 (filed May 7, 2026, accession 0001104659-26-056572); no report for the second quarter of 2026 existed as of July 29, 2026. Everything filed afterwards was reviewed in full, exhibits included: the 8-K of May 7, 2026 (Items 2.02 and 9.01, Exhibit 99.1 with quarterly figures, the $0.68 second-quarter dividend declaration and the five-quarter escrow deposit series), a Form S-8 registration of May 12, 2026, soliciting material DEFA14A of May 11, 2026, the 8-K of May 21, 2026 (Item 5.07, results of the May 19, 2026 annual meeting — eight directors elected, KPMG ratified as auditor for 2026, say-on-pay approved with roughly 71 percent support), seven insider filings (Form 4) of May 21, 2026 and five of June 8, 2026, plus two ownership filings (Schedule 13G) of April 29 and 30, 2026. For the statements on credit facilities the financing reports 8-K of February 2, 2026 and March 4, 2026 (Items 1.01/2.03, amendments to the PNC warehouse line including the increase that expired on May 1, 2026) were read with their exhibits, and for the targets Exhibit 99.1 to the 8-K of March 10, 2026 (investor day, "Journey to '30"). No delisting or deregistration form (25/15), no prospectus (424B*), no capital measure. Every present-tense statement about cash, equity, share count, credit lines, reserves, contingent liability, dividends and the repurchase program rests on that basis.
On the market capitalization cross-check: the cover page of the 10-Q lists exactly 34,331,241 shares outstanding as of April 30, 2026. At the $50.98 closing price of July 28, 2026 that gives roughly $1.75 billion. The fundamental data report $1.69 billion — on the same share count (34,331,241), but on the July 27, 2026 closing price of $49.28; the gap of about 3 percent is pure price movement. The balance sheet separately shows 33,249 thousand shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2026. The article consistently uses the cover-page figure of April 30, 2026; both numbers appear because book value per share lands between $50.11 and $51.74 depending on the basis. The distance from the all-time high refers to the record closing price of $154.90 on November 23, 2021. Analyses are evergreen; a daily price is not a reason to buy.
Easy to confuse: the ticker WD on the New York Stock Exchange belongs to Walker & Dunlop, Inc. — not to WD-40 Company (Nasdaq: WDFC) and not to Western Digital (Nasdaq: WDC). Nor is Walker & Dunlop a property owner or a REIT: the company finances and services other people's real estate loans; it does not own the buildings. Analyst estimates in the fundamental data ($4.61 per share for the current fiscal year, as of July 29, 2026) rest largely on an adjusted earnings measure common for mortgage lenders and are not comparable with profit under U.S. accounting rules. Equally non-comparable are total revenues ($1,234.3 million in 2025) and total transaction volume ($54.8 billion in 2025) — the first is what the company earns, the second is the loan volume it passes through.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at WD since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 38.50 $ to 87.50 $ · Last price: 38.50 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Mortgage Finance
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walker & Dunlop Inc WD | 1.3 | – | 10.4 | 100.0 | 9.2 | 9.0 | -52.3 |
| Rocket Companies Inc RKT | 36.1 | – | 0.0 | 100.0 | 28.2 | 27.4 | -40.6 |
| PennyMac Finl Svcs Inc PFSI | 3.5 | – | 45.9 | 86.0 | 14.6 | 173.8 | -46.6 |
| UWM Holdings Corp UWMC | 2.1 | 4.1 | 22.1 | 100.0 | – | 65.8 | -79.1 |
| Guild Holdings Co GHLD | 1.2 | 9.9 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 23.6 | 60.9 | 14.9 |
| Velocity Financial Llc VEL | 0.6 | 5.7 | 0.0 | 75.7 | – | 48.0 | -12.2 |
| Loandepot Inc LDI | 0.5 | – | 0.0 | 88.9 | – | 37.6 | -84.2 |
| Onity Group Inc. ONIT | 0.3 | 1.5 | 54.4 | 93.5 | – | -0.2 | -25.5 |
| Better Home & Finance Holding Company BETR | 0.2 | – | -0.9 | 100.0 | – | 59.4 | -56.4 |
| Median of companies shown | 1.2 | 4.9 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 19.1 | 48.0 | -46.6 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 575 | 186 | 114 | 3.65 | 759 | 615 | 3,052 |
| 2017 | 712 | 234 | 211 | 6.56 | 1,068 | 815 | 2,208 |
| 2018 | 725 | 213 | 161 | 5.04 | 64 | 907 | 2,780 |
| 2019 | 817 | 230 | 173 | 5.63 | 428 | 1,042 | 2,670 |
| 2020 | 1,084 | 330 | 246 | 7.92 | -1,411 | 1,196 | 4,651 |
| 2021 | 1,259 | 352 | 266 | 8.43 | 870 | 1,580 | 5,049 |
| 2022 | 1,259 | 265 | 214 | 6.54 | 1,583 | 1,717 | 4,045 |
| 2023 | 1,054 | 138 | 107 | 3.27 | -1 | 1,724 | 4,052 |
| 2024 | 1,132 | 132 | 108 | 3.26 | 129 | 1,748 | 4,382 |
| 2025 | 1,234 | 213 | 57 | 1.71 | -664 | 1,735 | 5,059 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
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The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 1.35 | 40.70 | 342 | 24.50 | 13.10 | 531 | 527 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.08 | -77.00 | 237 | 4.10 | 1.20 | -281 | -285 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.99 | 47.80 | 319 | 17.90 | 10.60 | -239 | -241 |
| 2025: Q3 | 1.00 | 15.50 | 338 | 15.50 | 9.90 | -948 | -950 |
| 2025: Q4 | -0.39 | -129.30 | 340 | -0.40 | -3.90 | 803 | 796 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.46 | 475.00 | 301 | 26.90 | 5.30 | -1,144 | -1,146 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.09 | -90.90 | 307 | -3.90 | 1.00 | 1,170 | 1,170 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 10 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Growth
Quality & Balance Sheet
Breakout & Setup
Dividends
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 4.88 | 4.75 – 5.15 | 1,309 | 39.5% | 3 |
| 12/31/2027 | 5.67 | 5.23 – 6.62 | 1,467 | 16.1% | 4 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Free cash flow over the past twelve months is negative, which rules out a serious reverse calculation. Any growth rate only makes a negative cash flow more negative; no present value comes out of it. What the price reflects here is therefore not a stream of cash flows, but the expectation that there will be one at all.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Walker & Dunlop verkauft keine KI, setzt Technologie und Datenauswertung aber im eigenen Betrieb ein und benennt künstliche Intelligenz ausdrücklich als Investitionsfeld. Der Geschäftsbericht 10-K für 2025 bezeichnet den Konzern als Technologieführer im Gewerbeimmobiliengeschäft und beschreibt die eigene Bewertungsplattform Apprise als technologie- und datenwissenschaftsgestützt; derselbe Bericht räumt die fortlaufende Einbindung künstlicher Intelligenz in den eigenen Betrieb ein. Auf dem Investorentag vom 10.03.2026 führt der Vorstand „künstliche Intelligenz und Datenfähigkeiten“ als eines der strategischen Investitionsfelder des Fünfjahresplans, und der Quartalsbericht 10-Q zum 31.03.2026 begründet die Technologieinvestitionen mit dem Vordringen von KI in Finanz- und Immobiliendienstleistungen. Für „verkauft KI“ fehlt der Beleg: Weder Apprise noch die 2022 übernommene GeoPhy werden in den Berichten als KI- oder Machine-Learning-Produkt beschrieben, und es gibt keinen mit KI erzielten Umsatzausweis. Für „bedroht“ fehlt er ebenfalls — KI erscheint im Risikoteil nur als Cybersicherheitsthema, nicht als Gefahr für das Geschäftsmodell.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„We are a leader in commercial real estate technology through developing and acquiring technology resources that (i) provide innovative solutions and a better experience for our customers, (ii) allow us to drive efficiencies across our internal processes, and (iii) allow us to accelerate the growth of our small-balance lending business and our appraisal platform, Apprise by Walker & Dunlop ("Apprise")."
Wir sind führend in der Gewerbeimmobilien-Technologie, indem wir Technologieressourcen entwickeln und zukaufen, die (i) unseren Kunden innovative Lösungen und ein besseres Erlebnis bieten, (ii) es uns erlauben, unsere internen Abläufe effizienter zu machen, und (iii) es uns erlauben, das Wachstum unseres kleinteiligen Kreditgeschäfts und unserer Bewertungsplattform Apprise by Walker & Dunlop ("Apprise") zu beschleunigen.
10-K · 2026-02-26 · View SEC filing
„Apprise leverages technology and data science to dramatically improve the consistency, transparency, and speed of multifamily property appraisals in the U.S. through our proprietary technology and provides appraisal services to a client list that includes many national commercial real estate lenders."
Apprise nutzt Technologie und Datenwissenschaft, um über unsere eigene Technologie die Verlässlichkeit, Nachvollziehbarkeit und Geschwindigkeit von Bewertungen für Mehrfamilienobjekte in den USA deutlich zu verbessern, und erbringt Bewertungsleistungen für einen Kundenkreis, zu dem viele landesweit tätige Gewerbeimmobilien-Finanzierer gehören.
10-K · 2026-02-26 · View SEC filing
„The continued development and integration of artificial intelligence in our or third-party providers' operations is expected to pose new and unknown cybersecurity risks."
Von der fortschreitenden Entwicklung und Einbindung künstlicher Intelligenz in unseren Betrieb oder den unserer Dienstleister werden neue und unbekannte Cybersicherheitsrisiken erwartet.
10-K · 2026-02-26 · View SEC filing
„As advancements in artificial intelligence and related technologies continue to reshape financial and real estate services, we believe it is critical to invest proactively to ensure we remain an essential intermediary to our clients and well-positioned within the evolving transaction ecosystem."
Da Fortschritte bei künstlicher Intelligenz und verwandten Technologien die Finanz- und Immobiliendienstleistungen weiter umformen, halten wir es für entscheidend, vorausschauend zu investieren, damit wir für unsere Kunden ein unverzichtbarer Mittler bleiben und im sich wandelnden Transaktionsökosystem gut aufgestellt sind.
10-Q · 2026-05-07 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-05-07 · 10-Q 2025-11-06 · 10-Q 2025-08-07 · 10-Q 2025-05-06 · 10-K 2026-02-26 · 10-K 2025-02-25 · 8-K 2026-03-10
Rated on July 29, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years -0.7%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 12.8%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year 0.7%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") -46.1%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 61.3%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 17.2%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 5.1 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years -808 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 7.6%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 4.0%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
4/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 8.9%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 9.0%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% 1.5%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 82.1%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 9.2x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 10
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 62.6%
- Return on equity > 15% 7.9%
- ROCE > 15% 7.6%
- Expected return > 10% -10.8%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
The company
About the Company
Walker & Dunlop, Inc. vergibt, verkauft und verwaltet über ihre Tochtergesellschaften eine Reihe von Finanzierungsprodukten und -dienstleistungen für Mehrfamilien- und andere Gewerbeimmobilien für Immobilieneigentümer und -entwickler in den USA.
- Employees
- 1,466
- Headquarters
- Bethesda, MD
- Address
- 7272 Wisconsin Avenue, 20814 Bethesda, United States
- Phone
- 301 215 5500
- Website
- walkerdunlop.com
- IPO Date
- 12/15/2010
- ISIN
- US93148P1021
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| William Mallory Walker | Chairman, President & CEO | 1967 |
| Gregory A. Florkowski | Executive VP & CFO | 1981 |
| Stephen P. Theobald | Executive VP & COO | 1962 |
| Daniel J. Groman | Executive VP, General Counsel, Secretary & Chief Compliance Officer | – |
| Paula A. Pryor | Executive VP & Chief Human Resources Officer | 1978 |
| Kyle Winning | Executive VP & Chief Investment Officer | – |
| Anthony Jacob McGill C.F.A. | Senior MD & Head of Investment Banking | – |
| Jack Balaban | Senior Vice President of Technology | – |
| Aaron J. Perlis | Executive Vice President of Special Asset Management | – |
| Amy Hopkins | Senior Vice President of Investor Relations | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 09/15/2026 Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (WD): Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement; Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/06/2026 Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (WD): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.