NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NREF)

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following is a discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations. The following should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and accompanying notes included herein and in our Annual Report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those projected, forecasted, or expected in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, those discussed below and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in Part I, Item 1A, and “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report. Our management believes the assumptions underlying the Company's financial statements and accompanying notes are reasonable. However, the Company's financial statements and accompanying notes may not be an indication of our financial condition and results of operations in the future.

Overview

We are a commercial mortgage REIT incorporated in Maryland on June 7, 2019. Our strategy is to originate, structure and invest in first-lien mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, convertible notes, multifamily properties and common equity investments, as well as multifamily and SFR CMBS securitizations, promissory notes, revolving credit facilities and stock warrants, or our target assets. We primarily focus on investments in real estate sectors where our senior management team has operating expertise, including in the multifamily, SFR, self-storage, industrial, marina and life science sectors predominantly in the top 50 MSAs. In addition, we target lending or investing in properties that are stabilized.

Our investment objective is to generate attractive, risk-adjusted returns for stockholders over the long term. We seek to employ a flexible and relative-value focused investment strategy and expect to re-allocate capital periodically among our target investment classes. We believe this flexibility will enable us to efficiently manage risk and deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns under a variety of market conditions and economic cycles.

We are externally managed by our Manager, a subsidiary of our Sponsor, an SEC-registered investment advisor, which has extensive real estate experience, having completed as of June 30, 2026 approximately $22.6 billion of gross real estate transactions since the beginning of 2012. In addition, our Sponsor, together with its affiliates, including NexBank, is one of the most experienced global alternative credit managers managing approximately $14.2 billion of loans and debt or credit related investments as of June 30, 2026 and has managed credit investments for over 25 years. We believe our relationship with our Sponsor benefits us by providing access to resources including research capabilities, an extensive relationship network, other proprietary information, scalability, and a vast wealth of knowledge of information on real estate in our target assets and sectors.

We elected to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2020. We also intend to operate our business in a manner that will permit us to maintain one or more exclusions or exemptions from registration under the Investment Company Act.

On October 16, 2019, Highland, a former affiliate of our Sponsor, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the “Highland Bankruptcy”), which was subsequently transferred to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas (the “Bankruptcy Court”). On October 15, 2021, Marc S. Kirschner, as litigation trustee of a litigation subtrust formed pursuant to Highland’s plan of reorganization and disclosure statement which became effective on August 11, 2021 and was subsequently amended, filed a lawsuit (the “Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit”) against various persons and entities, including our Sponsor and James Dondero. The Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit does not include claims related to our business or our assets or operations. On March 24, 2023, the litigation trustee filed a motion seeking to voluntarily stay the Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit, which was granted by the Bankruptcy Court on April 4, 2023. On June 30, 2025, the Bankruptcy Court approved a settlement agreement between Highland and Hunter Mountain Investment Trust (“HMIT”) pursuant to which the claims asserted in the Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit were assigned to HMIT. HMIT subsequently filed a motion to lift the stay of the Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit, which was granted and became effective on July 15, 2026.

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In addition, on February 8, 2023, UBS Securities LLC and its affiliate (collectively, “UBS”) filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York against Mr. Dondero and a number of other persons and entities seeking to collect on $1.3 billion in judgments UBS obtained against entities that were managed indirectly by Highland (the “UBS Lawsuit”). On February 26, 2024, the respondents, including Mr. Dondero, filed motions to dismiss the UBS Lawsuit. A hearing was held on July 8, 2024. The court dismissed the claims against one respondent, CLO HoldCo, Ltd., for lack of personal jurisdiction in a July 12, 2024 order. On August 24, 2024, UBS filed a notice of appeal for that dismissal order, but withdrew its appeal on December 31, 2025. On March 26, 2025, the court entered an order denying the remaining motions to dismiss and directed the respondents to file an answer to the UBS Lawsuit within 20 days, which they did. Mr. Dondero and the other remaining respondents are appealing the denial of the motion to dismiss to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The appeal was argued on April 8, 2026. The Supreme Court rescheduled a status conference in the UBS Lawsuit previously set for July 14, 2026 to September 15, 2026. Neither the Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit nor the UBS Lawsuit include claims related to our business or our assets or operations. Our Sponsor and Mr. Dondero have informed us they believe the Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit has no merit, and Mr. Dondero has informed us he believes the UBS Lawsuit has no merit; we have been advised that the defendants named in each of the lawsuits intend to vigorously defend against the claims. We do not expect the Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit or the UBS Lawsuit will have a material effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our website is located at nref.nexpoint.com. From time to time, we may use our website as a distribution channel for material company information.

Purchases and Dispositions in the Quarter

Acquisitions and Originations

The Company acquired or originated the following investments through the Subsidiary OPs in the three months ended June 30, 2026. The amounts in the table below are as of the purchase or investment date.

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(1)
Current yield and coupon as of June 30, 2026.

Redemptions and Sales

The following investments were redeemed or sold during the three months ended June 30, 2026:

Components of Our Revenues and Expenses

Net Interest Income

Interest income. Our earnings are primarily attributable to the interest income from mortgage loans, mezzanine loan and preferred equity investments. Loan premium/discount amortization and prepayment penalties are also included as components of interest income.

Interest expense. Interest expense represents interest accrued on our various financing obligations used to fund our investments and is shown as a deduction to arrive at net interest income.

Other Income (Loss)

Change in net assets related to consolidated CMBS variable interest entities. Includes unrealized gain (loss) based on changes in the fair value of the assets and liabilities of th

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following is a discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations. The following should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and accompanying notes. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those projected, forecasted, or expected in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, those discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. Our management believes the assumptions underlying the Company's financial statements and accompanying notes are reasonable. However, the Company's financial statements and accompanying notes may not be an indication of our financial condition and results of operations in the future.

Overview

We are a commercial mortgage REIT incorporated in Maryland on June 7, 2019. Our strategy is to originate, structure and invest in first-lien mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, convertible notes, multifamily properties and common equity investments, as well as multifamily and SFR CMBS securitizations, promissory notes, revolving credit facilities and stock warrants, or our target assets. We primarily focus on investments in real estate sectors where our senior management team has operating expertise, including in the multifamily, SFR, self-storage, industrial and life science sectors predominantly in the top 50 MSAs. In addition, we target lending or investing in properties that are stabilized.

Our investment objective is to generate attractive, risk-adjusted returns for stockholders over the long term. We seek to employ a flexible and relative-value focused investment strategy and expect to re-allocate capital periodically among our target investment classes. We believe this flexibility will enable us to efficiently manage risk and deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns under a variety of market conditions and economic cycles.

We are externally managed by our Manager, a subsidiary of our Sponsor, an SEC-registered investment advisor, which has extensive real estate experience, having completed as of December 31, 2025 approximately $22.1 billion of gross real estate transactions since the beginning of 2012. In addition, our Sponsor, together with its affiliates, including NexBank, is one of the most experienced global alternative credit managers managing approximately $13.9 billion of loans and debt or credit related investments as of December 31, 2025 and has managed credit investments for over 25 years. We believe our relationship with our Sponsor benefits us by providing access to resources including research capabilities, an extensive relationship network, other proprietary information, scalability, and a vast wealth of knowledge of information on real estate in our target assets and sectors.

We elected to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2020. We also intend to operate our business in a manner that will permit us to maintain one or more exclusions or exemptions from registration under the Investment Company Act.

For information regarding the Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit and the UBS Lawsuit, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors—The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Highland may have materially adverse consequences on our business, financial condition and results of operations” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Litigation against James Dondero and others may have materially adverse consequences on our business, financial condition and results of operations.” Neither the Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit nor the UBS Lawsuit include claims related to our business or our assets or operations. Our Sponsor and Mr. Dondero have informed us they believe the Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit has no merit, and Mr. Dondero has informed us he believes the UBS Lawsuit has no merit; we have been advised that the defendants named in each of the lawsuits intend to vigorously defend against the claims. We do not expect the Bankruptcy Trust Lawsuit or the UBS Lawsuit will have a material effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Components of Our Revenues and Expenses

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Net Interest Income

Interest income. Our earnings are primarily attributable to the interest income from mortgage loans, mezzanine loan and preferred equity investments. Loan premium/discount amortization and prepayment penalties are also included as components of interest income.

Interest expense. Interest expense represents interest accrued on our various financing obligations used to fund our investments and is shown as a deduction to arrive at net interest income.

Other Income (Loss)

Change in net assets related to consolidated CMBS variable interest entities. Includes unrealized gain (loss) based on changes in the fair value of the assets and liabilities of the CMBS trusts and net interest earned on the consolidated CMBS trusts. See Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Change in unrealized gain (loss) on CMBS structured pass-through certificates. Includes unrealized gain (loss) based on changes in the fair value of the CMBS I/O Strips. See Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Change in unrealized gain on common stock investments. Includes unrealized gain (loss) based on changes in the fair value of our common stock investments in NSP and the Private REIT. See Note 5 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Change in unrealized gain (loss) on MSCR notes. Includes unrealized gain (loss) based on changes in the fair value of our MSCR Notes. See Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Change in unrealized gain on mortgage backed securities. Includes unrealized gain (loss) based on changes in the fair value of our mortgage backed securities. See Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Provision for (reversal of) credit losses, net. Provision for (reversal of) credit losses, net represents the change in our allowance for loan losses. See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Realized losses. Realized losses include the excess, or deficiency, of net proceeds received, less the carrying value of such investments, as realized losses. The Company reverses cumulative unrealized gains or losses previously reported in its Consolidated Statements of Operations with respect to the investment sold at the time of the sale.

Revenues from consolidated real estate owned (Note 8). Reflects the total revenues for our multifamily properties. Revenues include rental income from the multifamily properties.

Equity in Income (Losses) of Equity Method Investments. Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated ventures represents the change in our basis in equity method investments resulting from our share of the investments’ income and expenses. Profit and loss from equity method investments for which we’ve elected the fair value option are classified in divided income, change in unrealized gains and realized gains as applicable.

Other income. Includes exit fees, placement fees and other miscellaneous income items.

Operating Expenses

G&A expenses. G&A expenses include, but are not limited to, audit fees, legal fees, listing fees, Board fees, equity-based and other compensation expenses, investor-relations costs and payments of reimbursements to our Manager. The Manager will be reimbursed for expenses it incurs on behalf of the Company. However, our Manager is responsible, and we will not reimburse our Manager or its affiliates, for the salaries or benefits to be paid to personnel of our Manager or its affiliates who serve as our officers, and we may grant equity awards to our officers under the Amended and Restated NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc. 2020 Long Term Incentive Plan (the "Amended and Restated LTIP"). Direct payment of operating expenses by us, which includes compensation expense relating to equity awards granted under the Amended and Restated

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LTIP or the NexPoint Real Estate Finance, Inc. 2020 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “Original LTIP” as amended and restated by the Amended and Restated LTIP, the “LTIP”), together with reimbursement of operating expenses to our Manager, plus the Annual Fee, may not exceed 2.5% of equity book value determined in accordance with GAAP, for any calendar year or portion thereof, provided, however, that this limitation will not apply to Offering Expenses, legal, accounting, financial, due diligence and other service fees incurred in connection with extraordinary litigation and mergers and acquisitions and other events outside the ordinary course of our business or any out-of-pocket acquisition or due diligence expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition or disposition of certain real estate related investments. To the extent total corporate G&A expenses would otherwise exceed 2.5% of equity book value, our Manager will waive all or a portion of its Annual Fee to keep our total corporate G&A expenses at or below 2.5% of equity book value.

Loan servicing fees. We pay various service providers fees for loan servicing of our SFR Loans, mezzanine loans and consolidated CMBS trusts. We classify the expenses related to the administration of the SFR Loans and mezzanine loans as servicing fees while the fees associated with the CMBS trusts are included as a component of the change in net assets related to consolidated CMBS variable interest entities (“VIEs”).

Management fees. Management fees include fees paid to our Manager pursuant to the Management Agreement.

Expenses from consolidated real estate owned (Note 8). Reflects the total expenses for our multifamily properties. Expenses include interest, real estate taxes and insurance, operating, general and administrative, management fees, depreciation and amortization, rate cap (income) expense, and debt service bridge expenses of the multifamily properties.

Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2025 and 2024

The following table sets forth a summary of our operating results for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 (in thousands):

The change in our net income for the year ended December 31, 2025 as compared to the net income for the year ended December 31, 2024 primarily relates to an increase in other income including changes in net assets related to consolidated CMB

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