Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) on Wednesday reported GAAP net income of $7 million, or $0.08 per diluted common share, for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2025. The company also announced a significant dividend hike, signaling the completion of a year-long strategic transformation.
The New York-based real estate investment trust posted earnings available for distribution (EAD), a key non-GAAP metric for REITs, of $45 million ,or $0.53 per adjusted diluted share. This outperformed the $30.4 million, or $0.37 per share, recorded in the fourth quarter of the previous year.
Full Year 2025 Results
For the full year 2025, Chimera reported:
• GAAP Net Income: $144 million, or $1.72 per diluted share.
• EAD: $141 million, or $1.68 per adjusted diluted share.
• Total Assets: $15.8 billion, compared to $13.1 billion at the end of 2024.
Segment Performance
The results were bolstered by the first full quarter of contributions from HomeXpress, the company’s residential origination arm.
• Residential Origination: This segment generated $11 million in EBTDA on $1.0 billion in funded production volume during the quarter.
• Investment Portfolio: Chimera aggressively expanded its Agency RMBS holdings, adding a net $606 million to end the year with a portfolio of more than $3 billion.
Book Value and Market Context
Chimera’s GAAP book value was $19.70 per share at year-end, down 2.7% from $20.24 at the end of the third quarter. The company attributed the decline primarily to transaction expenses, costs associated with the HomeXpress acquisition, and the rising value of its securitized debt.
The quarterly economic return was (0.9)%, though the company achieved a positive 7.4% economic return for the full year 2025.
The company operated against a backdrop of Federal Reserve rate cuts totaling 75 basis points over the final three FOMC meetings of the year. These cuts helped guide 30-year fixed mortgage rates to their lowest levels since late 2022, supporting mortgage credit spreads.
Dividend Increase and Transformantion
Citing growth in “earnings power,” the company’s board announced plans to increase the quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share for the first quarter of 2026, up from the current $0.37 per share. Management stated they expect to maintain this higher level for the remainder of 2026.
What you’re seeing now is the early return on the transformation we initiated in December 2024. The company spent much of 2025 reallocating capital, raising over $600 million through debt issuance and asset sales to fund its new integrated mortgage platform.