Glacier Bancorp Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Earnings and margin expansion: Glacier reported Q1 net income of $82.1 million (EPS $0.63), up ~29% sequentially, and a tax-equivalent net interest margin of 3.80% with management targeting roughly 4.0% NIM in H2 2026.
• Balance sheet and repricing tailwinds: Loans rose to $21 billion and deposits to $24.7 billion with faster growth in the Southwest, and about $3 billion of loans are set to reprice over the next 12 months, expected to add roughly 75–100 bps to yields.
• Capital, shareholder returns and credit: The board declared a $0.33 quarterly dividend (164th consecutive), expects the payout ratio to fall below 50% soon as capital builds, and reported strong asset quality with NPAs at 25 bps of assets, net charge-offs at 2 bps of loans, and an allowance of 1.22% of loans.

Glacier Bancorp NYSE: GBCI reported higher earnings and continued net interest margin expansion in its first-quarter 2026 results, with management pointing to lower funding costs, improving loan yields, and solid deposit growth as key contributors.

Quarterly results driven by margin expansion

President and CEO Randy Chesler said the company delivered “another quarter of strong results,” with net income of $82.1 million, up $18.4 million, or 29%, from the prior quarter and up $27.6 million, or 51%, from the year-ago quarter. Diluted earnings per share increased to $0.63, up 29% sequentially and up 31% year over year.

A major theme of the call was continued margin improvement. Chesler said the tax-equivalent net interest margin was 3.80%, up 22 basis points from the prior quarter and up 76 basis points from the prior-year quarter. He also cited a loan yield of 6.16%, up 7 basis points sequentially and up 39 basis points year over year, while total earning asset yield increased 11 basis points from the prior quarter to 5.11%. Funding costs moved lower, with the total cost of funding at 1.4%, down 12 basis points from the prior quarter and down 28 basis points from a year earlier.

Balance sheet trends: loan and deposit growth

Chesler said loans ended the quarter at $21 billion, up $106 million, or 2% annualized, from the prior quarter. He highlighted faster growth in the Southwest region, including Arizona and Texas, which grew “in excess of 7% annualized” during the quarter.

On the funding side, total deposits were $24.7 billion at quarter-end, up $151 million, or 2% annualized, from the prior quarter. Non-interest-bearing deposits rose to $7.4 billion, increasing $113 million, or 6% annualized, sequentially.

In response to questions about loan growth expectations, Chief Credit Administrator Tom Dolan said the bank remained “comfortable with that low to mid-single digit” outlook for loan growth. Dolan said the first quarter saw a seasonal impact and he expected improvement in the second and third quarters, noting that Glacier’s Southwest footprint tends to experience less seasonality than northern markets where colder weather can slow construction activity.

Dolan described the loan pipeline as still “largely driven by commercial real estate,” spread across the footprint and including both owner and non-owner segments. He also pointed to C&I opportunities and said construction demand has become a larger part of the pipeline compared with a couple of years ago. Dolan added that production yield for the quarter was “about 675,” and said late-quarter and early second-quarter production yields increased after the middle part of the yield curve moved higher in March.

Funding, margin outlook, and securities strategy

Treasurer Byron Pollan said the first quarter’s margin improvement reflected broad-based drivers. “Our margin was really firing on all cylinders in Q1,” he said, adding that the company has now posted nine consecutive quarters of margin expansion, with the first quarter’s 22 basis point increase the largest over that period.

Pollan reiterated management’s view that Glacier is on track to reach a 4% net interest margin target in the second half of 2026. “I wouldn't say that we're looking to go much beyond that,” he said, though he later said there was “a little bit of potential to maybe go past 4%,” adding, “Maybe we creep above it a little bit.”

Pollan also said Glacier completed the payoff of its FHLB advances in the first quarter. Looking ahead, he said deposit costs may decline modestly further, pointing to the CD portfolio: more than 60% of CDs mature each quarter, and early second-quarter renewal rates were running slightly below maturing rates. However, he said that with the Fed on hold, deposit rates would likely be “stabilizing and moving sideways” for the rest of the year.

On the asset side, Pollan emphasized the company’s repricing momentum. He said Glacier has $3 billion of loans repricing over the next 12 months from March 31, expected to earn an incremental 75 to 100 basis points. He also cited new loan production rates “north of 6.5%.” On the investment portfolio, he said cash flow remains strong as securities run off at very low rates.

Pollan also discussed potential redeployment of liquidity. He said Glacier expects to be active buying bonds in the second half of the year as excess cash builds. When asked about “dry powder,” he said the company does not have a fixed cash target, but suggested it would likely look to reinvest when cash rises somewhere in the $750 million to $1 billion range.

Expenses, efficiency targets, and credit quality

Chief Financial Officer Ron Copher reaffirmed an efficiency ratio goal of 54% to 55% on a core operating basis. He said the first quarter’s reported efficiency ratio of 63% included acquisition-related expenses and compensation items tied to the deal. Copher also reiterated full-year expense guidance that he said had been provided on the prior call: 750 to 766 for the year. He said management remained cautious on hiring and spending given economic uncertainty, including conflict in the Middle East.

Chesler said Glacier’s “non-GAAP operating results” showed core strength excluding acquisition expenses, with operating EPS of $0.70 per share and operating expenses of $188.2 million for the quarter.

On credit, Chesler said performance remained strong. Non-performing assets were 25 basis points of total assets, with a slight increase from the prior quarter. Net charge-offs declined to 2 basis points of total loans from 6 basis points in the prior quarter. The allowance for credit losses remained at 1.22% of total loans.

Integration progress, capital discussion, and dividend

Management said integration work continued following the October 2025 acquisition of Guaranty Bank. Chesler said Glacier completed the core conversion during the quarter and thanked teams for maintaining customer focus through the process. Discussing business momentum in Texas, he said growth continued even as the company completed the conversion and noted some market disruption from larger banks acquiring mid-sized banks, though he said it was “still a little bit early to tell just how extensive that's going to be.”

Dolan said growth in the Texas footprint was coming from a combination of deepening existing relationships and adding new customers. He said a key benefit has been Glacier’s ability to support larger aggregate relationships than the acquired bank may have been comfortable holding on its own.

Chesler also addressed capital and shareholder returns. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, marking its 164th consecutive quarterly dividend, according to Chesler. He said the dividend payout ratio has “dropped significantly” and management expects it to fall below 50% “in the next couple of quarters.” He added that Glacier expects to build capital and that management has been “rethinking all options” for capital deployment given expected accumulation.

Pollan discussed a proposed regulatory change and said early calculations suggest the company could see risk-weighted asset relief. He estimated it could translate to “somewhere in the neighborhood of 75-80 basis points” of benefit to the CET1 ratio if the proposal becomes final.

About Glacier Bancorp NYSE: GBCI

Glacier Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Kalispell, Montana. Through its network of community banks, the company delivers commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, and agricultural clients. With a commitment to relationship-driven banking, Glacier Bancorp combines local market expertise with regional scale to offer customized financial solutions that address the unique needs of the communities it serves.

Established in 1955 as Glacier Bank, the company has expanded both organically and through targeted acquisitions to build a presence across the Mountain West and into the Upper Midwest and Southwest.

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