Equity Bancshares (EQBK) Q3 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q3 net income was $26.8M, or $1.29 diluted EPS; core net income was $29.1M, or $1.40 core diluted EPS, and core ROATCE was 16.5%.

• Loans grew $39.2M, the first quarterly increase since acquisitions closed, while production reached a record $379.3M.

• Nine-month net income was $70.2M, or $3.35 diluted EPS; year-to-date core EPS of $4.14 supported the stated goal of exceeding $5 for 2026.

• Total assets were $7.59B at September 30; Frontier's January acquisition expanded the footprint into Nebraska with seven branches.

Financial highlights

• Net interest income was $72.8M, down $1.0M QoQ and up $10.4M, or 16.6%, YoY; NIM declined to 4.20% from 4.36% QoQ.

• Total non-interest income was $10.9M, up $2.8M QoQ; excluding prior-quarter one-time items, it rose $0.6M, led by fee, card, treasury, trust and wealth income.

• GAAP non-interest expense was $48.1M; excluding merger expenses in both periods, it was $47.2M versus $46.8M QoQ. Efficiency ratio was 53.99%.

• Provision for credit losses was $1.7M and net charge-offs were $2.1M; gross loans ended at $5.44B, deposits at $6.17B and total assets at $7.59B.

• Pre-tax, pre-provision earnings were $36.9M, the highest since the three-company combination.

Outlook and guidance

• Q4 NIM is expected at 4.25%–4.35%, excluding Lincoln; period-end loan balances and rate effects are expected to offset deposit-pricing competition.

• Q4 core non-interest income is guided at $10M–$11M and core non-interest expense at $47M–$48M, excluding Lincoln; effective tax rate guidance is 21.5%–22.5%.

• Q4 provision guidance is $1M–$3M; average deposits are projected at $6.175B–$6.275B and average gross loans at $5.475B–$5.575B.

• 2027 organic loan growth target is 5%–7% including Lincoln; the acquisition is expected to close in late Q4 2026 and convert in Q2 2027, with half of cost savings expected in 2027.