Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc

Our Company

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. is an internally-managed real estate finance company that focuses primarily on directly originating, investing in and managing senior floating-rate commercial mortgage loans and other debt and debt-like commercial real estate investments. Our investment objective is to preserve our stockholders’ capital while generating attractive risk-adjusted returns over the long term, primarily through dividends derived from current income produced by our investment portfolio. We operate as a REIT, as defined under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code. We were incorporated in Maryland on April 7, 2017, and commenced operations as a publicly traded company on June 28, 2017.

The terms “Granite Point,” “we,” “our,” “us” and the “Company” refer to Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. and its subsidiaries as a consolidated entity.

We have elected to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. To qualify as a REIT, we are required to meet certain investment and operating tests and annual distribution requirements. We generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes on our taxable income to the extent that we annually distribute all of our net taxable income to stockholders, do not participate in prohibited transactions and maintain our intended qualification as a REIT. However, certain activities that we may perform may cause us to earn income which will not be qualifying income for REIT purposes. We have designated one of our subsidiaries as a taxable REIT subsidiary, or TRS, as defined in the Code, to engage in such activities, and we may form additional TRSs in the future. We also operate our business in a manner intended to maintain our exclusion from registration under the Investment Company Act.

We are organized as a holding company and operate our business primarily through various subsidiaries in a single reporting segment that originates, acquires and finances our target investments.

Our Investment Strategy

Our investment strategy is to directly originate, invest in and manage a portfolio of primarily senior floating-rate commercial real estate loans and other debt and debt-like instruments secured by various types of institutional quality commercial properties located in attractive markets across the United States and managed by experienced owners. These loans may vary in term and may bear interest at a fixed or floating rate, although our primary focus is on floating-rate loans. We typically provide intermediate-term bridge or transitional financing for a variety of purposes, including acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings and a range of business plans, including lease-up, renovation, repositioning and repurposing of the commercial property.

From time to time, we may also directly originate and invest in mezzanine loans, subordinated mortgage interests (sometimes referred to as a B-note) and other real estate securities, and may also invest in preferred equity investments and other investments that are subordinated or otherwise junior in an issuer’s capital structure and that involve privately negotiated structures. The only securities we currently own are the retained interests from our securitization financing transactions. Our investment objective is to generate attractive, risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders over the long-term, primarily through dividends, and to preserve our stockholders’ capital through business cycles. We believe that the stability of our capital base is important to our ability to invest in assets that generate attractive returns on an ongoing basis. We intend to achieve these objectives by further growing our already well-diversified investment portfolio over the long-term and actively managing the various risks associated with our business strategy.

As a long-term, fundamental value-oriented investor, we may adjust our investment strategy as we react to evolving market dynamics. We believe there are enduring opportunities within our target investments that present attractive, risk-adjusted returns. However, as economic and business cycles develop, we may expand and/or adjust our investment strategy and target investments to capitalize on various investment opportunities. We believe that our well-diversified portfolio and flexible investment strategy will allow us to actively adapt to changing market conditions and generate attractive, long-term returns for our stockholders in a variety of environments.

Our Loan Portfolio

As of December 31, 2023, our loan portfolio consisted of 73 commercial real estate loan investments with an aggregate principal balance of $2.7 billion and an additional $0.2 billion of future funding obligations. As of December 31, 2023, 98.3% of our loan portfolio by principal balance earned a floating rate of interest. The table below details overall statistics of our portfolio as of December 31, 2023:

(2)Cash coupon does not include origination or exit fees. Weighted average cash coupon excludes fixed rate loans.

(3)Yield includes net origination fees and exit fees, but does not include future fundings, and is expressed as a monthly equivalent. Weighted average yield excludes fixed rate loans.

(4)Initial loan-to-value ratio, or initial LTV, is calculated as the initial loan amount (plus any financing that ispari passu with or senior to such loan) divided by the as is appraised value (as determined in conformance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, or USPAP) as of the date the loan was originated set forth in the original appraisal.

(5)Stabilized loan-to-value ratio, or stabilized LTV, is calculated as the fully funded loan amount (plus any financing that ispari passu with or senior to such loan), including all contractually provided for future fundings, divided by the as stabilized value (as determined in conformance with USPAP) set forth in the original appraisal. As stabilized value may be based on certain assumptions, such as future construction completion, projected re-tenanting, payment of tenant improvement or leasing commissions allowances or free or abated rent periods, or increased tenant occupancies.

The map and charts below, weighted by carrying value, illustrate the geographic distribution and types of properties securing our loan portfolio as of December 31, 2023:

Our Financing Strategy and Leverage

We currently finance our business through public and private offerings of our equity and debt securities, asset-backed financings and our outstanding commercial real estate collateralized loan obligations, or CRE CLOs. In addition to our current mix of funding sources, we may use other forms of financing, including additional securitizations and public and private, secured and unsecured, debt issuances by us or our subsidiaries.

As of December 31, 2023, we had repurchase and secured credit financing facilities in place to finance loans held for investment and our one real estate owned, or REO, asset with an aggregate maximum borrowing capacity of $1.9 billion.

We also finance pools of commercial real estate loans through CRE CLOs, which are consolidated on our financial statements. As of December 31, 2023, the outstanding amount due on securitized debt obligations was $1.0 billion.

We are not required to maintain any particular debt-to-equity leverage ratio. The actual leverage we employ for particular investments will depend upon our assessment of the credit, liquidity, price volatility and other risks of those investments and the financing counterparties, and availability of particular types of financing at the time, as well as the financial covenants under our financing facilities. Our decision to use leverage to finance our assets is at the discretion of our management team and is not subject to the approval of our stockholders. Given our focus on senior floating-rate mortgage loans, we currently expect that such leverage will be, on a total debt-to-equity ratio basis, within a range of 3.0:1.0 and 3.5:1.0; however, our leverage may vary and differ from our expectations depending on market conditions and any steps we may take to strengthen our balance sheet and enhance our liquidity position. We endeavor to match the terms and indices of our assets and liabilities, including, potentially, through the use of derivatives in certain instances. We also seek to manage the risks associated with recourse borrowing.

Subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes and our exemption from the Investment Company Act, we may, from time to time, engage in a variety of hedging transactions that seek to mitigate the effects of fluctuations in interest rates or currencies and their effects on our cash flows. These hedging transactions could take a variety of forms, including interest rate swaps or cap agreements, options, futures contracts, forward rate agreements or similar financial instruments. We expect these instruments would allow us to reduce, but not eliminate, the risk that we have to refinance our liabilities before the maturities of our investments and to reduce the impact of changing interest rates on our earnings. To date, we have not engaged in any hedging transactions.

Investment Guidelines

Our board of directors has approved the following investment guidelines:

•no investment shall be made that would cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT under the Code;

•no investment shall be made that would cause us to be regulated or required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act;

•we will primarily invest in our target investments, consisting of senior commercial mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, subordinated mortgage interests, real estate securities and other debt and debt-like commercial real estate investments;

•not more than 25% of our equity capital will be invested in any individual asset without the prior approval of a majority of our board of directors;

•any investment in excess of $300 million in an individual asset requires the prior approval of a majority of our board of directors; and

•until appropriate investments in our target investments are identified, we may invest our available cash in interest-bearing, short-term investments, including money market accounts or funds, and corporate bonds, subject to the requirements for our qualification as a REIT under the Code.

These investment guidelines may be changed from time-to-time by our board of directors without our stockholders’ consent, but we expect to disclose any material changes to our investment guidelines in the periodic quarterly and annual reports that we file with the SEC. We are not subject to any limits or proportions under our investment guidelines with respect to the mix of target investments that we originate or acquire other than as necessary to maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes and our exemption from registration under the Investment Company Act.

Competition

We are engaged in a competitive business. Our net income depends, in part, on our ability to originate or acquire investments at favorable credit spreads over our borrowing costs. In our lending and investment activities, we compete for opportunities with a variety of institutional lenders and investors, including other REITs, specialty finance companies, public and private funds, commercial and investment banks, commercial finance and insurance companies and other financial institutions. Several other companies that have raised significant amounts of capital may have investment objectives and strategies that overlap with ours, which may create additional competition for lending and investment opportunities.

Some of our competitors may have a lower cost of funds and access to funding sources that may not be available to us. Many of our competitors are not subject to the operating constraints associated with REIT rule compliance or maintenance of an exclusion from regulation under the Investment Company Act. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments than we do, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of loans and investments, offer more attractive pricing or other terms and establish more relationships than us. Furthermore, competition for originations of and investments in our target investments may lead to decreasing yields, which may further limit our ability to generate desired returns.

We believe our industry experience and relationships provide us with a competitive advantage and help us assess risks and determine appropriate risk and return parameters for our target investments. Additionally, we believe that our experience enables us to compete more effectively and generate attractive investment opportunities for our portfolio. However, we may not be able to achieve our business goals or expectations due to the competitive risks that we face.

For additional information concerning these competitive risks, see “Risk Factors — Risks Related to our Lending and Investment Activities — We operate in a competitive market for investment opportunities and competition may limit our ability to originate or acquire our target investments and could also affect the pricing of these investments” in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Human Capital

Our team of talented employees is fundamental to our success. As of December 31, 2023, we employed 35 individuals, all of whom are full time and based out of our two primary office locations in New York, New York, and Saint Louis Park, Minnesota.

We are committed to creating and supporting a positive work environment and culture where our employees can grow professionally and contribute to the success of the Company. Our core values of excellence, responsibility, integrity and respect also guide us in building and maintaining fruitful, long-term relationships with our various internal and external stakeholders, including our employees. Highlights of the specific ways we support our team members follow.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

We are dedicated to promoting a work environment that:

•is free from discrimination, harassment or retaliation because of race, color, ethnicity, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation (including transgender status, gender identity or expression), pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation or related conditions), marital status, disability, public assistance, age, familial status, genetic information, local commissions activity, veteran status, uniformed servicemember status, or any other status protected by federal, state or local laws;

•provides fair treatment and mutual respect to all employees;

•is inclusive and embraces individual differences;

•provides equal employment opportunities based on ability, performance and potential;

•informs all team members of their rights and responsibilities with regards to fairness, equity and respect for all aspects of diversity;

•considers flexible work practices, benefits and policies to support employees and their changing needs; and

•is committed to the attraction, retention and development of a diverse range of talented, energetic and committed people.

We promote this work environment and culture in part through policies that provide for equal employment opportunities, equal pay, disability accommodation, religious accommodation, parental and other family leave, and accommodations for nursing mothers, as well as detailed prohibitions against sexual harassment and other forms of workplace harassment.

In addition, all officers and employees annually receive mandatory third-party training on anti-harassment and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Topics addressed in such training have included creating a culture of belonging and addressing unconscious bias.

Employee Engagement

In the fall of 2022, we developed and implemented an annual survey to measure employee engagement and satisfaction and to identify any areas where we may improve our work environment or culture. More than 90% of our team members have completed this engagement survey each year. More than 90% of respondents to the 2023 survey indicated that they Strongly Agree or Agree that they feel like they are part of a team, they have confidence in the leadership of the Company, and there is good interdepartmental cooperation.

Professional Development

We encourage the ongoing professional development of our employees through attendance at industry conferences and events, continuing education classes or workshops, certification and licensure support and role-specific training and development opportunities. Additionally, we offer our employees tuition reimbursement for qualifying undergraduate or graduate course work.

We also support our employees’ development in their roles through annual performance reviews, and we encourage regular dialogue and interactions between employees and their supervisor and senior leadership.

Health, Safety and Security in the Workplace

We monitor external threats, such as public health risks or civil unrest, and adopt safety measures or otherwise modify our policies and practices as needed to protect our employees.

We strive to provide our employees with a safe and healthy work environment free from hazards, violence and threatening behavior. We have policies against violent conduct, firearms, drugs and alcohol, and tobacco in the workplace. All personnel have an obligation to report all workplace accidents, injuries and unsafe equipment, practices or conditions.

Compensation and Benefits

We provide a comprehensive suite of compensation and benefits that includes the following elements, among others, to promote our employees’ well-being:

•competitive compensation packages that consist of salaries, cash bonuses, merit increases and stock-based compensation for eligible employees;

•company-paid medical and dental insurance benefits for our full-time employees and their families;

•savings and investment opportunities, including a 401(k) plan with company contributions and health savings accounts with company contributions;

•mental health and wellness offerings, including a gym reimbursement program, gym discount program, fitness rewards program, free subscriptions to a mental health and mediation app, and an employee assistance program;

•generous paid time off, ten company holidays and leave policies, including gender neutral parenting leave; and

•flexible/hybrid work model, where employees may work up to two days a week remotely.

Government Regulation

We are required to maintain qualifications, approvals and licenses in a number of states in order to conduct our lending activities and own certain of our target investments. Licensing requirements vary considerably by state and may impose various different obligations on our business, including restrictions on loan origination activity; limits on finance charges, including type, amount and manner of charging fees; disclosure requirements; surety bond and minimum specified net worth requirements; periodic reporting requirements; notice requirements for changes in principal officers, directors or principal owners; and record keeping requirements. Additionally, our licensed entities may be required, from time to time, to submit to routine examinations by state regulatory agencies to ensure our compliance with applicable requirements. We are also required to comply with certain provisions of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that are applicable to commercial loans. We intend to conduct our business so that neither we nor any of our subsidiaries are required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.

We currently believe that compliance with existing statutes and regulations has not had a material adverse effect on our business. In recent years, there has been greater regulation of financial services firms, particularly in areas such as risk management, leverage and disclosure. While we expect that new regulations in these areas will be adopted and existing ones may change in the future, it is not possible at this time to forecast the exact nature of any future legislation, regulations, judicial decisions, orders or interpretations, nor their impact upon our future business, financial condition or results of operations or prospects.

Taxation

REIT Qualification

We have elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Our qualification as a REIT depends upon our ability to meet, on a continuing basis, through actual investment and operating results, various complex requirements under the Code, relating to, among other things, the sources of our gross income, the composition and values of our assets, our distribution levels and the diversity of ownership of our shares. We believe that we have been organized in conformity with the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under the Code, and that our intended manner of operation will enable us to meet the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT.

So long as we qualify as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income that we currently distribute to our stockholders. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year and do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates and may be precluded from qualifying as a REIT for the subsequent four taxable years following the year during which we lost our REIT qualification. Even if we qualify for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain U.S. federal, state and local taxes on our income or property. See “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our REIT Status and Certain Other Tax Items” in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Investment Company Act Exemption

We conduct our operations so that neither we nor any of our subsidiaries are an “investment company” as defined in Section 3(a)(1)(A) or Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act. We believe we are not an investment company under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act because we do not engage primarily, or hold ourselves out as being engaged primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Rather, through our wholly owned or majority-owned subsidiaries, we are primarily engaged in non-investment company business related to real estate. In addition, we conduct our operations so that we do not come within the definition of an investment company under Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act because less than 40% of our total assets on an unconsolidated basis will consist of “investment securities,” or the 40% test. Excluded from the term “investment securities” (as that term is defined in the Investment Company Act) are securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries that are themselves not investment companies and are not relying on the exclusion from the definition of investment company set forth in Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act. The Investment Company Act defines a majority-owned subsidiary of a person as a company where 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of which are owned by such person, or by another company which is a majority-owned subsidiary of such person. The Investment Company Act defines voting securities as any security presently entitling the owner, or holder thereof, to vote for the election of directors of a company. We treat entities in which we own at least a majority of the outstanding voting securities as majority-owned subsidiaries for purposes of the 40% test. We monitor our holdings to ensure ongoing compliance with this test.

We hold our assets primarily through direct or indirect wholly owned or majority-owned subsidiaries, certain of which are excluded from the definition of investment company pursuant to Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act. We classify our assets for purposes of certain of our subsidiaries’ Section 3(c)(5)(C) exclusion from the Investment Company Act based upon no-action positions taken by the SEC staff and interpretive guidance provided by the SEC and its staff. Based on such guidance, to qualify for the exclusion pursuant to Section 3(c)(5)(C), each such subsidiary generally is required to hold at least (i) 55% of its assets in “qualifying” real estate assets and (ii) 80% of its assets in “qualifying” real estate assets and real estate-related assets. “Qualifying” real estate assets for this purpose include mortgage loans, certain B-Notes and certain mezzanine loans that satisfy various conditions as set forth in SEC staff no-action letters and other guidance, and other assets that the SEC staff in various no-action letters and other guidance has determined are the functional equivalent of senior mortgage loans for the purposes of the Investment Company Act. We treat commercial mortgage-backed securities, or CMBS, B-notes and mezzanine loans that do not satisfy the conditions set forth in the relevant SEC staff no-action letters and other guidance, and debt and equity securities of companies primarily engaged in real estate businesses, as real estate-related assets. To the extent that the SEC staff publishes new or different guidance with respect to these matters, we may be required to re-classify our assets for purposes of the Investment Company Act, including for purposes of our subsidiaries’ compliance with the exclusion provided in Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act.

If we were required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we would become subject to substantial regulation with respect to our capital structure (including our ability to use borrowings), management, operations, transactions with affiliated persons (as defined in the Investment Company Act) and portfolio composition, including disclosure requirements and restrictions with respect to diversification and industry concentration and other matters. Compliance with the Investment Company Act would, accordingly, limit our ability to make certain investments and require us to significantly restructure our business plan, which could materially adversely affect our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders. See “Risk Factors - Risks Related to Our Company and Structure - Maintaining our exclusions from registration as an investment company under the Investment Company Act imposes limits on our operations. Investment returns may be reduced if we are required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act” in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Additional Information

Our website can be found atwww.gpmtreit.com. We make available, free of charge on our website (on the Investors page under “SEC Filings”), our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports, as are filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as well as our proxy statement with respect to our annual meeting of stockholders, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Our Exchange Act reports filed with, or furnished to, the SEC are also available on the SEC’s website atwww.sec.gov. The content of any website referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K unless expressly noted.