Glacier Bancorp (NYSE:GBCI) Q3 2026 Earnings Call

0:00 Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Glacier Bancorp third quarter earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1-1 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today. Randy Chesler, President and CEO of Glacier Bancorp. Please go ahead.

0:36 Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. With me here in Kalispell are Ron Copher, our Chief Financial Officer, Tom Dolan, our Chief Credit Administrator, Angela Dose, our Chief Accounting Officer, and Byron Pollin, our Deputy CFO and Treasurer. I would like to remind everyone that today's discussion is subject to the forward-looking statement considerations included in our earnings release and we encourage you to review that language. Last night we issued our earnings release for the third quarter of 2026 and we are very pleased to report record net income for Glacier. The quarter reflected continued earnings momentum are 11th consecutive quarter of margin expansion, strong deposit growth, solid loan growth, and excellent credit performance.

1:31 Net income was 105 million for the third quarter, a record for the company, and the first time we exceeded 100 million in net income in a quarter. We were up 7% from the prior quarter and up 54% from the third quarter of last year. Diluted earnings per share were 80 cents, up 7% from the prior quarter and up 40% from the prior year third quarter. Operating diluted earnings per share were 81 cents, up 7% from the prior quarter and up 31% from the prior year third quarter. A key driver of our strong performance continues to be net interest income and margin expansion.

2:21 Net interest income increased to $290 million, up 5% from the second quarter and up 29% from the third quarter of last year. Our tax equivalent net interest margin expanded to 4.01%, up 11 basis points from the second quarter and up 62 basis points from the prior year third quarter. This marks our 11th consecutive quarter of margin expansion, and we have now crossed the 4% mark with a strong tailwind driving momentum for further growth in the fourth quarter and into 2027. From a pre-tax, pre-provision net revenue perspective, our PPNR for the third quarter was $138 million, an increase of 6% from the prior quarter.

3:17 Turning to the balance sheet, loans ended the quarter at $21.6 billion, increasing $256 million, or 5% annualized, from the second quarter. The growth reflected our continued focus on disciplined loan production in our attractive markets. The average loan yield of 6.22% in the current quarter increased 10 basis points from the prior quarter and increased 25 basis points from the prior year third quarter. Non-interest bearing deposits increased $279 million or 15% annualized to $7.7 billion and represented 30% of total deposits at quarter end. Total deposits were $25.3 billion at quarter end increasing $619 million or 10% annualized from the prior quarter and increased $3.4 billion or 16% from the prior year third quarter.

4:28 Our loan to deposit ratio improved to 85.7% from 86.8% at the end of the prior quarter. and our deposit base continues to comfortably support our liquidity, funding strategy and future loan growth. The total cost of funding declined to 1.32%, down one basis point from the prior quarter and down 26 basis points from the third quarter of last year. Core deposit costs, including non-interest-bearing deposits, was 1.17% down one basis point from the prior quarter and down six basis points from the prior year third quarter.

5:16 Credit quality remains excellent, consistent with our market-focused divisional model and disciplined underwriting culture. Early stage delinquencies declined to 0.27% of loans from 0.31% in the prior quarter, and non-performing assets decreased $1.2 million to $90.6 million, or 0.28% of subsidiary assets. Net charge-offs were $6 million for the quarter, which included $3.5 million of deposit overdraft charge-offs. Non-interest expense was well managed in the quarter. The efficiency ratio improved to 56.08% from 56.65% in the prior quarter.

6:05 Return on average assets increased to 1.31%, up from 1.25% last quarter, and 0.93% in the third quarter of last year. During the quarter, the Board increased the quarterly dividend by 2 cents, or 6%, to 35 cents per share. This marks our 166th consecutive quarterly dividend. and we have now increased the dividend 50 times over our history. Tangible book value per share grew to $22.05, up 1% from the prior quarter and up 8% from the prior year third quarter.

7:00 We are very encouraged by our results for the third quarter and through the first nine months of the year. Record earnings, a margin above 4%, Strong deposit growth, disciplined loan growth, and excellent credit performance, all driven by Glacier's community banking model, demonstrate the power of the Glacier franchise and provide strong momentum heading into the fourth quarter and 2027. That concludes my remarks. I will now ask the operator to open the line for questions from our analysts. Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 1-1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 1-1 again.

7:51 Our first question comes from the line of Jeff Rulis with DA Davidson. Your line is now open.

7:58 Thanks. Good morning. Morning, Jeff. Wanted to check in on kind of the growth in the quarter, a good solid mid-single-digit increase. I don't know if you had the numbers for the Texas footprint relative to the other areas of the footprint, if you could.

8:20 Sure, Jeff. This is Tom. Yeah, the Southwest Division, just how we look at it, outperformed the bank as a whole in the quarter. They came in at about 8% annualized growth.

8:35 Appreciate it. And I guess the follow-on to that is the, I guess that initial phase of the Guaranteed team being on board and their book of business, and I guess as that's aged, I mean, just kind of getting into the opportunity in this most recent quarter would be a pretty good tell, but the outlook for growth in this southwest region, still pretty positive, and just are interested in your view of that plus the Rocky Mountain outlook as well.

9:09 Yeah, no, you know, the Southwest Division is still sitting on a very healthy pipeline, very healthy deal flow. And, you know, I think the same extends to the mountain footprint as well. You know, I would say overall origination activity remains solid. And, you know, as you saw this quarter and it continues, particularly within our commercial real estate and the construction portfolios, But, you know, Jeff, we're still seeing a healthy level of ongoing deal flow and pipeline strength. But, you know, as we've seen in prior years, we are entering into a seasonally slower period. But overall, we're still comfortable with our low to mid single-digit outlook.

9:46 Great. Thanks, Tom. And then maybe one other one. Byron, I wanted to maybe quantify or frame up the further asset repricing opportunity in 27. Sort of Randy alluded to it got some tailwinds. Just hoping to frame up the positive factors that may impact that. Year over year up, 60 basis points on the margins, impressive, tough to repeat, but just want to see the components of what you're seeing looking forward.

10:17 Yeah, thanks, Jeff. You know, very excited to reach 401 in the third quarter for our net interest margins. We've been looking ahead at that for some time. It's an important milestone for us in our continued improvement in our earnings profile. But as Randy pointed out, as you say, importantly, there is additional upside from here. So the tailwinds we see ahead in our asset repricing are very strong and, frankly, have gained some momentum with this shift in the curve. I'll start with investment. Investment cash flows are being reinvested roughly 350 basis points. higher than the current runoff yield. So that's very helpful and that's a little stronger than it has been. Loan repricing, approximately $3.5 billion of loans currently in portfolios will reprice up 125 to 150 basis points in the next 12 months. That's also a little stronger than it has been lately. And on the new production side, with new production yields in the high sixes and trending higher, Every new loan we put on the books will lift our margin.

11:27 So we do have some meaningful momentum on the asset repricing, and that's going to carry us through, you know, with increasing margin through 27.

11:37 Okay. That's very helpful, Byron. And I guess we'll make our determination on deposit costs, but that seems pretty tame for now. So I appreciate it. I'll step back. Thanks. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Matthew Clark with Piper Sandler. Your line is now open.

12:00 Thanks for the questions. Good morning. On that front, I guess it sounds like your kind of incremental spread on new loans in particular is pretty healthy. Today, how are you thinking? I mean, it sounds like this NIM expansion is not just going to continue next year, but the year after. So, you know, when you think about a normalized margin, is 450 what you're ultimately, you know, striving for? Is that realistic?

12:38 Well, you know, I think we have some good visibility into 27. We're still pulling a lot of things together here. you know we'll wait and see kind of how 27 develops before we can really speak to 2028 but you know I think of our margin in terms of you know a historical range four to four and a half percent is typically where we have been you know historically there are some things that that could lift us towards the higher end of the range you know with what I see today the market environment the lending opportunities that we have This is the type of environment that could help us lift towards the higher end of that range. Now, I can't put a timeframe on that. I can't say that that's a 2027 event. But certainly with enough time, I could see us hitting that 4.5% level that you know, the higher end of our historic range.

13:35 Got it. And then just on deposit costs, do you have the spot rate at the end of September? And then also, you know, what... What beta should we assume if we have this recent one and then we get maybe one in December and March?

13:52 Sure. The spot rate for deposits on September 30 was 1.20%. And in terms of deposit beta, I think we'll be somewhere in the range of 20% to 25%. I think early on in the cycle, we'll probably be closer to the lower end of that range. If this cycle were to extend, you know, we may push toward the higher end of that range, but that would be further down the road with, you know, several more hikes in place. But early on, I think 20% maybe down the road towards the 25% beta is a good guy.

14:34 Okay. And then maybe for Randy, you know, your stock on a relative basis is trading at, you know, A multiple that we haven't seen in a while. Any appetite to authorize a buyback and consider buying back some stock given where your multiple trades on an absolute and relative basis?

15:01 Yeah, I think that gets to the capital discussion. And we're looking also at the future markets. capital build, which is substantial given the earnings growth. So all we are really now going to take a look at all options, including special dividends and share buybacks, because the amount of capital we see accumulating and we really just want to make sure we have all levers available to us. So, yeah, that's something that's absolutely in our scope.

15:35 Thank you. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of David Feaster with Raymond James. Your line is now open.

15:46 Hi. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. I wanted to start on the deposit side. It was a very good quarter. Obviously, we've got the temporary deposits that you called out. Got some seasonal strength. But, I mean, core deposit growth was just very good. I wanted to get a sense of what you're seeing that's driving that. I mean, are there any markets that you're seeing notable strength? How marginal funding costs are, the competitive landscape for funding today, and just how do you think about deposit growth going forward as competition intensifies?

16:20 Yeah, David, as you point out, great deposit quarter for us. Really strong results in the quarter from a balance perspective with growth, and at the same time, we were able to reduce our deposit costs. And the real highlight this quarter was our growth in our non-interest-bearing balances. That was fantastic. Seasonally, we do expect to see good growth in the third quarter. I would say this is on the strong side of our seasonal expectations. Where's the growth coming from? I would say it's solid, broad-based growth. We saw growth across most of our deposit products, interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing, and we saw growth across most of our divisions and geographies. So it's hard to call out any one area. I would say it was pretty...

17:05 Thank you for joining us today.

17:30 How's the pipeline heading into the fourth quarter? Have you started to see some stuff that maybe falls out of the pipeline that may not pencil anymore with rates higher, just the competitive landscape? Just kind of curious what you're seeing on that front.

17:46 Yeah, sure do. We haven't seen any material deals fall out of the pipeline as a result of rates. The way I look at it, I think borrower caution has been evident for decades. Okay. Okay. That's great.

18:27 And then maybe just last one, I wanted to touch on your asset sensitivity. I think a lot of investors still look at you as liability sensitive, and you were a couple years ago. But I just want to, how do you think about the balance sheet currently in your asset sensitive position? How do you think about the potential margin benefits in each hike? And how do you think about managing asset sensitivity in this market?

18:52 Yeah, David, we are, I would say, modestly asset sensitive. and I think in this rate environment, frankly, it's helpful for us. I walked through the drivers on the asset side of the balance sheet, the continued repricing that we'll see. On the other side of the balance sheet, on the funding side, we will see some upward drift in our deposit costs if the Fed continues to raise rates. However, the benefit of our asset repricing and higher reinvestment yields will more than offset that funding cost pressure. And so I do see our margin continuing to expand throughout 27, as we've talked about.

19:39 And the shape of the curve is helpful. A couple of incremental hikes would be helpful as well. So yeah, I see this as a positive development overall for the balance sheet.

19:55 Do you have any expectation for how each hike may benefit the margin? And again, how do you think about managing it as you go forward with your securities portfolio and just managing the balance sheet?

20:10 Sure. As I mentioned early on, our deposit beta is likely to be lower. We'll probably kind of lag into this deposit repricing a little bit. and so early on the hikes will be maybe a little bit more beneficial. As I said earlier, if this hiking cycle extends, you know, our deposit beta might float up a little bit towards the higher end of that 20 to 25% range and so it might be a little bit, it'll still be helpful but might maybe not provide quite as much lift. In terms of how we'll manage the investment securities portfolio, we are putting You know, runoff cash flows back to work in new purchases. We're being very conservative, you know, with what we're buying there. We're not really, you know, reaching for yield, reaching for duration.

21:02 and we have a meaningful amount of cash flow that's coming back from our securities portfolio. That's going to provide us a lot of flexibility in what we do with that cash flow, whether it's funding loans with lending opportunities on Tom's side of the balance sheet or reinvesting in securities at these higher levels. I see all of that as being helpful for our margin and net interest income going forward.

21:32 That's great. Thanks, everybody. Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question at this time, please press star 1-1 on your touchtone telephone. Our next question comes from the line of Andrew Terrell with Stevens. Your line is now open.

21:49 Hey, good morning. Morning. Maybe sticking on the margin just for a bit, you know, a lot of the commentary, Byron, sounds very positive, and maybe this is a better rate environment for you now. as you're reinvesting some of the cash flows at IRA. If I look back the past couple of quarters, I mean, you've got two quarters in a row, 10 to 12 basis point kind of margin lifts each quarter. A lot of the commentary sounds like it's better. Is it unfair to think that you could reproduce a similar kind of 10 to 12 basis point lift on the margin in the fourth quarter? And I appreciate it. I'm not going to ask it about 2027 because I know it's tougher to forecast.

22:31 I would say also keep in mind we were able to, over the last few quarters, reduce our deposit costs. I think going forward, we're likely to see that just drift up a little bit. So that might eat into some of that. If it's a 10 basis point improvement previously, maybe a little bit less than that. Just accounting for the potential for increased deposit costs as the Fed is being active here.

23:01 Got it. Okay, that makes sense. I think last quarter we talked about, I think it was 187 to 192 in expenses, so you're kind of right in that range this quarter. Maybe just talk us through the moving pieces and any kind of 4Q expense expectation. Just refresh us on the guide, please.

23:22 Yeah, Ron here, Andrew. Yeah, so in this third quarter, And I want to focus on, pardon my voice, I want to focus on the operating, core operating expenses because we could take the reported 191.9 back out, the adjustments that we disclosed in the back of the earnings release. We came in at 190.8 million and it was on the high side of the guide. But whether it's reported or operating, 4.4 million of that was related to the increase performance-based compensation, and that's based upon year-to-date performance. And so those are essentially the moving parts.

24:07 And we're going to stick with the guide 187 to 192 in the fourth quarter, as I said, back in July. We're doing that because the discretionary spending that was in check for the first half, that could come back still even in the fourth quarter. So we're going to stick with that guide that's likely to be towards the high end of that, just as we were in this third quarter. For the full year, we will stay within our guide of $750 to $760 million, probably closer to the $757, somewhere in that range. But the overall point I would make is that we still remain cautious on expenses in general.

24:55 Geopolitical uncertainty, economic uncertainty, pick your pain point. So we're cautious about that and we've added so much technology that all the divisions are really embracing it and so that's been very helpful to control compensation expense. So overall things are looking pretty good and the efficiency ratio is really where it's showing up. Certainly net interest income is improving, but we've done a pretty good job of keeping in check that non-interest expense. Final point, I'd look no further than year-to-date operating efficiency ratio. It's improved nearly five percentage points just in the nine months, going from 62% to 57%.

25:38 Yeah, and I did want to ask just on the efficiency specifically, I think we talked about 54%, 55% type efficiency. Do you think you can kind of get there either fourth quarter as we're working on next year?

25:56 Yes. Yes, definitely. Yeah, fourth quarter, we're pretty confident, 54% to 55%. I'll address it again when we're in the budgeting, beginning that right now, and so I'll speak more to that when we get through the fourth quarter call.

26:14 Great. Thanks so much for taking the questions. Welcome. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Kelly Matta with KBW. Your line is now open.

26:26 Hi. Good morning. Thanks for the question. Good morning. Just to tie up a couple loose ends, Byron, your comment on 20% to 25% deposit beta, I just wanted to confirm that was for total deposits?

26:44 That's correct, total deposits.

26:46 Got it. That's helpful. And then I think you alluded to this, but can you remind us where new loan production is coming on and as well as the incremental cost of new funding? It was really impressive to see the growth in deposits with minimal increase in costs. Thanks.

27:07 Yeah. Kelly, this is Tom. In the third quarter, production yields were 674.

27:16 Thanks. And then on the deposit side?

27:19 Yeah, Kelly, on the deposit side, new accounts are being opened somewhere in the range of 2.25% to 2.5%.

27:27 Got it, got it. Okay, that's helpful. And then we saw the really nice securities yield pick up this quarter. Just can you remind us how you're thinking about reinvesting the cash flows? It looks like the securities... Book is relatively flattish from here. I just wanted to confirm kind of how you guys are thinking about that in terms of overall balance sheet growth. Thanks.

27:57 Yeah, I think roughly we'll be reinvesting the amount of runoff that we have from here quarter to quarter. We do have a lot of cash flow. Again, as I said, that gives us a lot of flexibility. So we'll wait and see how lending opportunities develop, the deposit gathering as well. But I would say a pretty good guide just to estimate the amount of runoff that we see will likely be reinvested.

28:27 Got it. That's helpful. Most of my questions have been asked at this point just to nitpick on fees on a bed. Other fees came down about $2 million. Just wondering, is this $40 million a good run rate? Any kind of commentary about the drivers of that variance?

28:48 Thanks. Yeah, Kelly, Ron here. The $40 million is the right way to approach it. Things go up and down within it, but The key I want to point out on that $1.8 million reduction in other income, about a million of that was related to fair value increases on equity investments that we have that we account for as non-interest income, and that won't repeat. So we had $41 million in Q2. We got to basically $40 million in Q3, and I think that's a good run rate.

29:23 Got it, that's helpful. And then obviously, you know, you guys are making a lot more money than you were in the past two years with the really nice margin increase. Just wondering, can you remind us about the tax rate? Thanks.

29:41 Yeah, Ron again. So yeah, so the, we were suggesting 22% around there would be the rate for the third quarter but we came in a little bit lower and part is because we were able to close transactions that generated additional federal tax credits so that's why it came down. For the fourth quarter, the rate will come in right around 21% and I think for the full year as I model it, depending upon we got a couple other opportunities to get some additional federal tax credits here but I think it'll come in right around 21% for the full year.

30:21 Got it. That's super helpful. Thanks so much. Nice quarter. I'll step back. Thank you. And I'm currently showing no further questions at this time. I'd now like to hand the call back over to Randy Chesler for closing remarks.

30:33 All right. Thank you, Shannon. And thank you all for joining us this morning and your continued interest in Glacier Bancorp. We wish you a great day and a great weekend. Thank you. This concludes today's conference. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.