Oct 27, 2026 earnings call — Record quarterly results and wealth growth
Operating diluted earnings per share rose 16.5% year over year and 9.5% quarter over quarter, marking the company's sixth consecutive quarter of record results.
Revenue $0.2B (est $0.2B) · EPS $1.27 (est $1.19)
Key quotes
"Representing our 6th consecutive quarter of record results."
"Wealth management revenue was up 41% year over year, pretax earnings were up 42%."
"As noted, we pulled forward our December securities maturities as we took advantage of the shape of the curve and our own liquidity needs and produced a positive net present value transaction."
Analyst Q&A 7
Commercial loan pipeline and pricing
Q (Steve Moss · Raymond James): Asked how the commercial loan pipeline is performing given large payoffs, and about current loan pricing and competition across auto, mortgage, and commercial loans. Also asked which fee businesses they focus on for acquisitions.
A: Management said the commercial pipeline is strong and close to its high marks, and a couple of larger payoffs will be absorbed and replaced in the fourth quarter. They reported blended originations around 6.6 across portfolios, mortgages seeing high 7s to 8 handles, and commercial trending in the high 6s with some 7s in certain situations. They also said the acquisition pipeline is robust, especially for insurance, and expect good opportunities for M&A and inorganic growth into 2027.
"It is pretty comparable to where it was last quarter, which means that it is close to its high marks." — Dimitar A. Karaivanov (CEO)
Use of cash and deposit beta
Q (David Konrad · KBW): Asked how the company will use cash in Q4 after security sales and what they expect deposit beta to be. Also asked how they plan to use the $600 million of bond cash flows next year and target securities-to-assets.
A: They said the cash position reflects seasonality, especially municipal deposits and personal spending patterns, and that securities sales funded growth this quarter rather than raising wholesale borrowings. On beta they said it is really hard to tell given uncertain Fed moves, but they have reengaged some CDs and have liquidity to optimize volume versus rate. They said they would target securities-to-assets closer to the high teens or 20%, noted about $150 million of FHLB borrowings maturing mid-year, and would use cash flows for loan growth or to replace borrowings when it is a positive present value decision.
"Then in terms of beta, David, really hard to tell." — Dimitar A. Karaivanov (CEO)
De novo branch deposit update
Q (Manuel Navas · Piper Sandler): Asked for an update on the de novo branches and what deposit costs are coming from them, since year-over-year deposit growth included ClearPoint and Santander.
A: Management later reported they had about $11.075 billion in deposits in the de novo branches as of basically yesterday, and they are on track toward the year's $200 million goal. They said most deposits there are commercially focused and some of those are higher cost than traditional retail, while retail should build over time; overall aggregate deposit costs have continued to come down.
Wealth, benefits, buybacks, capital use
Q (Manuel Navas · Piper Sandler): Asked about outlook for wealth management and employee benefit services into next year, and about average share repurchase price and how buybacks fit with capital deployment and M&A.
A: They said wealth management benefits from market value tailwinds and strong new advisory sales, running between $750 million and $1 billion of new advisory sales in recent years, and ClearPoint will contribute more in 2027, supporting robust double-digit growth next year. For employee benefits, roughly half the exposure is market-linked and half tied to participants, they serve about 1 million participants growing about 3% to 4%, and they plan for a blended high-single-digit growth rate around 7% for planning. On buybacks, average repurchase price this year was in the low 60s, buybacks are opportunistic, organic growth is priority one, and inorganic M&A remains an active tool though bank M&A is quieter now.
"In the past 3 years, and I am including this year kind of as a projection, we have been running somewhere between $750 million and $1 billion of new advisory sales in the business." — Dimitar A. Karaivanov (CEO)
Regional market performance and NIM timing
Q (Matthew Breese · Stephens): Asked where the company is taking market share and where it is lagging across upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and recent New England entries. Also asked why investment yields were down quarter to quarter after the security sale, and about AI risk to deposits.
A: They said they are doing well across the footprint, highlighting Southern New Hampshire/Northern Massachusetts, Lehigh Valley, Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, and Vermont, with recruiting and local leadership wins. On the security sale, management said the apparent yield dip was likely a timing difference, that the sale was accretive (NIM expanded 7 basis points last quarter with 3 bps from the sale), and Q3 missed FRB/FHLB dividends that will return in Q4. On AI, they said agentic tools remove friction but lack accountability; branches, trust, and operating deposits (average account ~$12,000) matter, so they must reduce friction while keeping trust to retain operating balances.
"What it does is it removes friction in the process." — Dimitar A. Karaivanov (CEO)
Micron impact and expense growth
Q (Bloomberg Intelligence): Asked how much of the commercial loan pipeline is directly tied to the Micron plant and whether the plant will drive loan growth now. Also asked how to think about expense growth and de novo expansion into next year.
A: They said directly attributable pipeline to Micron is a very small percentage, but they are seeing more business from second- and third-derivative suppliers like warehousing, roads, construction, and engineering, and some of those customers are in insurance and benefits. For expenses, they aim for lower expense growth; excluding acquisitions they ran about 5% this year and want to be a little lower, targeting roughly a 4% to 5% organic expense growth range for 2027 while investing in technology and infrastructure to scale.
"As it relates to directly attributable our pipeline to Micron I would say it is a it is a very small percentage." — Dimitar A. Karaivanov (CEO)
Semiconductor pickup and deposit growth
Q (Brin Capital): Asked how the expected pickup in semiconductor-related business will affect deposit growth going forward.
A: They expect the impact to be on both loans and deposits. They noted Syracuse market share has grown from about 7% to over 9% in the past 3 years and they expect the market to grow and for the company to deepen share, so the semiconductor activity should be a positive tailwind even though historical precedents vary.
"In the past I think, 3 years, we have gone from kind of a 7% market share to over 9% market share." — Dimitar A. Karaivanov (CEO)