Oct 22, 2026 earnings call — American National conversion and organic growth
Completed American National conversion and repurchased $100 million in shares while net interest margin expanded to 3.2%.
Revenue $0.5B (est $0.5B) · EPS $0.81 (est $0.77)
Key quotes
"This partnership gives us a powerful lever to attract and deepen relationships in markets like Omaha, the Twin Cities, and beyond."
"In Q3, our net interest income increased by $7 million while our net interest margin expanded by 3 basis points to 3.2%."
"In Q3, our ACLL decreased by $4 million to $491 million with the decrease driven by an equal mix of loan growth and normal credit movements."
Analyst Q&A 8
Expenses and capital targets
Q (Casey Haire · Autonomous): Would positive operating leverage remain the goal next year despite expense investments? Also asking how you manage capital and any target TCE/CET1 level for buybacks in 2027.
A: They said they will cut expenses where needed and reinvest in proven areas, expanding on what worked in Phase 2 to increase execution certainty. They manage capital to a CET1 ratio of 10% to 10.75% and are comfortable in that range given their conservative risk profile.
"We are managing to our CET1 at 10% to 10.75%." — Andrew J. Harmening (CEO)
Credit and new market trends
Q (Daniel Tamayo · Raymond James): Do the recent NPL increases lead to near-term charge-offs and any update on the credit outlook? Also asking early balance-sheet and pricing trends from new markets, and Dallas/Kansas City specifics.
A: They said they do not expect the NPL increase to flow into near-term charge-offs and that the increases were already in active discussions with clients. Early signs from new markets are encouraging: consumer activation after conversion is nearly fully restored, checking account openings in the first 7 days were up 121% versus June–August, Omaha looks promising, Dallas is booking loans, and Kansas City has exceeded projections.
"No. We do not see any near term things flowing through the charge offs." — Patrick Ahern
Loan growth and commercial pipeline
Q (Terry McEvoy · Wells Fargo): Is the 18%–20% loan growth range driven by payoff timing? Also expand on commercial loan pipelines and customer business sentiment. Follow-up on non-interest-bearing deposit change.
A: They said loan growth guidance is intact and they are growing in higher-profit areas; recent Q3 payoffs would still leave them at the top of the original ASB guide. The commercial pipeline and CRE production are strong (CRE production up about 50%), unfunded construction commitments are up, and they expect low-mid single digit CRE growth; nonmaturity deposits are growing and support NIM.
"When you net all that out, it means we have a pretty good view into the 12 months that we are going to grow." — Andrew J. Harmening (CEO)
Quarterly expenses and NIM outlook
Q (Brandon Rood · Stephens): Does the expense guide imply a step-up in Q4 versus Q3 and what drives that? Also what are NIM expectations going forward given deposit and loan trends?
A: They said a Q3 OREO recovery affected the comparison but they remain within their expense guide. On NIM, they expect continued organic expansion of a basis point or 2 per quarter even after accretion runoff, driven by sustained customer and deposit trends.
"We expect it to continue after the acquisition, which is a basis point or 2 quarter of organic expansion." — Derek S. Meyer (CFO)
Time deposits and funding beta
Q (Jared David Shaw · Barclays): How are you managing time deposit pricing and upcoming roll-offs? If funding structure improves, could cumulative beta be better? Also how to think about capital markets growth?
A: They said CD rollovers are not a key driver this quarter or next because back-book rates are below current marginal rates, and most fourth quarter growth is coming from nonmaturity and interest-bearing demand deposits. Current deposit beta is around the mid-50s and could vary in the low 50s to high 50s, but they expect to offset deposit pricing with asset pricing; capital markets should improve year-over-year but will be lumpy quarter to quarter.
"Most of our growth in fourth quarter, again, is non maturity deposits." — Derek S. Meyer (CFO)
Seasonality and loan yield spotting
Q (Nathan Race · Piper Sandler): Will seasonality help deposits ramp in Q4 and reduce wholesale funding? Also asking for spot loan yield at end of September or weighted average new loan pricing.
A: They said seasonality typically kicks in at the end of the fourth quarter and that nonmaturity deposit growth gives relief on wholesale funding. They declined to give a one-day spot loan yield for September, saying that is not useful, and noted their commercial variable-rate book is slightly asset sensitive and should provide some benefit into October.
"I think the end of the fourth quarter is really where you see a lot of our seasonality kick in, which also gives us relief on the wholesale funding." — Derek S. Meyer (CFO)
Fee income run rate and buybacks
Q (Andrew Leishner · KBW): Is the current core fee income (~$85 million) a good run rate into 2027 and should buybacks at $100 million per quarter be expected in 2027?
A: They said they will not give 2027 guidance yet but fee income has a higher run rate and momentum across debit, wealth, and commercial that could lift fees. On buybacks they have not set a 2027 pace; share repurchases are an option and capital decisions will consider their CET1 target of 10% to 10.75%.
"What I would say is it is an option open to us that we have not had before, and it is 1 that will be in our decision matrix for capital spend in 2027." — Andrew J. Harmening (CEO)
Commercial pipeline and execution priorities
Q (Jon Arfstrom · RBC): Confirm commercial pipeline growth (35%–40%) and how that pulls through. What management is pushing teams on now and any unfinished items from Phase 2?
A: They confirmed the commercial pipeline is up about 36% to 40% in commitments and higher on the funded portion, which supports expected production and solid Q4 C&I growth. Management is pushing for faster organic in-house growth (targeting roughly 2%–3%), discipline in execution, continued metro expansion, and focused attention on the Omaha conversion and team.
"I think the takeaway for me in that is when I see a pipeline going up like that, from a year over year standpoint, it does lead me to believe that the production is going to be there." — Andrew J. Harmening (CEO)