Texas lender Hilltop Holdings (NYSE: HTH) was able to offset continued weakness in the mortgage market with strong gains elsewhere, leading to an earnings beat for the first quarter, it reported Thursday. Investors are buying in, sending shares of Hilltop up about 5% as of noon ET Friday.

Hilltop earned $0.42 per share in the quarter, beating Wall Street's $0.25-per-share consensus estimate, despite net interest income that was down $18 million year over year to $103.6 million. The company was able to offset that decline via a reversal of credit losses thanks to an improving local economy, as well as an increase in broker-dealer net revenue.

The company continues to see declines in its mortgage production unit but was able to counter that by selling mortgage loans at a gain.

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Source Fool.com