After a shaky start, SoftBank-backed mortgage lender Better Steady

After a disastrous launch a day earlier following a merger with a blank-check company, Better Home & Finance Holding shares recovered in early trade on Friday.SoftBank-backed firm shares rose 4.3% to $1.20 by 10:16 a.m. ET (1416 GMT) Friday. Last Thursday, they fell 93.4%.Retail investor forum Stocktwits.com had the stock among its most active tickers.

“When the deal was priced in 2021, rates were at record lows,” Better CEO Vishal Garg said, adding that the company’s technology will deliver long-term growth and shareholder value when rates normalize.The company went public in December 2021 after laying off 900 Zoom employees, but high mortgage rates have hurt home lending demand and profit.

A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry and repeated rounds of layoffs delayed Better’s $6 billion special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp in 2021, delaying its public offering.”SPACs and mortgage lending are hated right now, so this is an example of the wrong company at the wrong time,” said Great Hill Capital chairman Thomas Hayes.

“That could change and as rates come down, it could be valuable, but for now don’t touch.”U.S. mortgage rates have risen when government bond yields rise. The popular 30-year fixed rate touched its highest level since 2000 last week, sparking a 28-year low in mortgage applications.

Shell corporations that generate cash through public listings to acquire and publicize private enterprises are SPACs.

In 2021, the SPAC market boomed because to ultra-low interest rates, but rising interest rates, high redemption rates, and increased regulatory scrutiny have slowed it.