Spotting Winners: Farmer Mac (NYSE:AGM) And Specialty Finance Stocks In Q3

Stock Story

Encore Capital Group

+2.21%

Federal Agricultural Mortgage-C

-0.35%

Federal Agricultural Mortgage-A

0.00%

DigitalBridge Group, Inc.

+4.32%

HA Sustainable Infrastructure

-1.02%

The end of an earnings season can be a great time to discover new stocks and assess how companies are handling the current business environment. Let’s take a look at how Farmer Mac and the rest of the specialty finance stocks fared in Q3.

Specialty finance companies provide targeted lending or financial services for specific industries or needs. They benefit from expertise in particular sectors, often reduced competition in specialized niches, and tailored underwriting that can yield higher margins. Challenges include concentration risk in specific industries, difficulty achieving scale efficiencies, and potential vulnerability during sector-specific downturns affecting their specialized markets.

The 10 specialty finance stocks we track reported a mixed Q3. As a group, revenues missed analysts’ consensus estimates by 5.8%.

In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady as they are up 4.2% on average since the latest earnings results.

Farmer Mac

Created by Congress in 1987 to build a bridge between Wall Street and rural America, Farmer Mac provides a secondary market for agricultural and rural loans, helping lenders increase their liquidity and lending capacity to serve rural America.

Farmer Mac reported revenues of $94.96 million, up 11.1% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 6%. Overall, it was a softer quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates.

Interestingly, the stock is up 11.2% since reporting and currently trades at $175.87.

Is now the time to buy Farmer Mac? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Best Q3: Encore Capital Group

Operating in the often misunderstood world of debt collection since 1999, Encore Capital Group purchases portfolios of defaulted consumer debt at deep discounts and works with individuals to recover these obligations while helping them toward financial recovery.

Encore Capital Group reported revenues of $460.4 million, up 25.4% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 11.9%. The business had an incredible quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 23.9% since reporting. It currently trades at $52.99.

Is now the time to buy Encore Capital Group? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Weakest Q3: DigitalBridge

Transforming from a traditional real estate investor to a digital-focused powerhouse in 2021, DigitalBridge Group is a global digital infrastructure investment firm that manages capital and operates assets across data centers, cell towers, fiber networks, and edge infrastructure.

DigitalBridge reported revenues of $3.82 million, down 95% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 96.2%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates.

DigitalBridge delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 23.4% since the results and currently trades at $9.73.

Read our full analysis of DigitalBridge’s results here.

Hercules Capital

Named after the mythological hero known for his strength, Hercules Capital is a business development company that provides debt financing to venture capital-backed and growth-stage technology and life sciences companies.

Hercules Capital reported revenues of $138.1 million, up 10.3% year on year. This result met analysts’ expectations. Aside from that, it was a mixed quarter as it also logged EPS in line with analysts’ estimates but revenue in line with analysts’ estimates.

The stock is up 7.7% since reporting and currently trades at $18.95.

Read our full, actionable report on Hercules Capital here, it’s free for active Edge members.

HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital

With a proprietary "CarbonCount" metric that quantifies the environmental impact of each dollar invested, HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital is an investment firm that finances and develops climate-positive infrastructure projects across renewable energy, energy efficiency, and ecological restoration.

HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital reported revenues of $139.2 million, up 51.5% year on year. This print topped analysts’ expectations by 58.5%. Overall, it was a stunning quarter as it also recorded a solid beat of analysts’ revenue estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is up 18% since reporting and currently trades at $33.70.

Read our full, actionable report on HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Risk Warnings and Disclaimers

You understand and acknowledge that there is a high degree of risk involved in trading. Following any strategies or investment methods may lead to potential losses. The content on the site is provided by our contributors and analysts for information purposes only. You are solely responsible for determining whether any trading assets, securities, strategy, or any other product is suitable for investing based on your own investment objectives and financial situation.

Add to Favorites

DigitalBridge (DBRG) Stock Trades Up, Here Is Why

Stock Story

Vantage Corp.

+0.56%

DigitalBridge Group, Inc.

+4.32%

What Happened?

Shares of digital infrastructure investor DigitalBridge Group jumped 4% in the afternoon session after it announced an agreement to sell its Nordic asset, Digita Group, to private investment firm GI Partners.

The transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, capped off a seven-year ownership period for DigitalBridge. During this time, the company successfully grew Digita from a modest portfolio of around 200 tower sites into a major regional platform boasting over 950 locations in Finland and Iceland. The move appeared to validate DigitalBridge's strategy as an active asset manager focused on acquiring, scaling, and selling digital infrastructure assets in high-growth regions.

After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $9.83, up 3.4% from previous close.

Is now the time to buy DigitalBridge? Access our full analysis report here.

What Is The Market Telling Us

DigitalBridge’s shares are very volatile and have had 23 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 3 months ago when the stock gained 8.1% on the news that its portfolio company, Vantage Data Centers, secured a $1.6 billion investment to expand its operations in the Asia-Pacific region. The investment was led by existing investors GIC and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), signaling strong confidence in the growing demand for digital infrastructure driven by AI and cloud computing. A significant portion of the funds will be used to acquire Yondr Group's 300MW+ hyperscale data center campus in Johor, Malaysia. Both Vantage and Yondr are backed by DigitalBridge, which recently acquired Yondr through its managed investment vehicles. This strategic transaction expands Vantage's footprint in Southeast Asia and reinforces DigitalBridge's position as a key player in global digital infrastructure investment.

DigitalBridge is down 11.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $9.83 per share, it is trading 29% below its 52-week high of $13.83 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of DigitalBridge’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $523.72.

Risk Warnings and Disclaimers

Add to Favorites