Prepared remarks
Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Glacier Bancorp Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a Q&A session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press *11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press *11 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Randall Chesler, President and CEO of Glacier Bancorp. Please go ahead.
Well, good morning, and thank you for joining us today. With me here in Kalispell is Ronald J. Copher, our Chief Financial Officer; Tom Dolan, our Chief Credit Administrator; Angela L. Dose, our Chief Accounting Officer; and Byron Pollan, our Treasurer. I would like to point out that the discussion today is subject to the same forward-looking considerations outlined starting on Page 13 of our press release and we encourage you to review this section. Last night, we issued our earnings release for the second quarter and we believe it represents another quarter of strong results. Net income was $97.9 million for the second quarter, up 19% from the prior quarter and up 85% from the second quarter of last year. Diluted earnings per share were $0.75, up 19% from the prior quarter and up 67% from the prior year second quarter. A key driver of our strong performance continues to be net interest income and margin expansion. Net interest income increased to $276 million, up 3% from the first quarter and up 33% from the second quarter of last year. Our tax equivalent net interest margin expanded to 3.9%, up 10 basis points from the first quarter and up 69 basis points from the prior year second quarter. From a pretax, pre-provision net revenue perspective, our PPNR for the second quarter was $130.8 million, an increase of 23% from the prior quarter and an increase of 53% from the second quarter a year ago. We also saw continued improvement in our funding profile. The total cost of funding declined to 1.33%, down 7 basis points from the prior quarter and down 30 basis points from the second quarter of last year. Core deposit cost, including non-interest-bearing deposits, was 1.18%, down 2 basis points from the prior quarter. Non-interest-bearing deposits remained at 30% of total deposits for the quarter, consistent with the last quarter and the second quarter a year ago. Turning to the balance sheet, loans ended the quarter at $21.4 billion, increasing $330 million, or 6% annualized, from the first quarter. Loan growth was broad based and reflects our continued focus on disciplined production in attractive markets. Total average deposits were $24.5 billion for the quarter, up $112 million, or 2% annualized from the prior quarter. Period-end deposits were $24.7 billion, down slightly from the prior quarter, but overall deposit levels remain stable and continue to comfortably support our liquidity and funding strategy. Credit quality remains excellent, consistent with our disciplined underwriting culture. Early-stage delinquencies declined from the prior quarter, while nonperforming assets increased modestly but remained low as a percentage of subsidiary assets. Our allowance for credit loss at 1.22% of total loans reflects our conservative and consistent approach to reserving. Expenses were well controlled in the quarter. Acquisition-related expenses declined meaningfully from the first quarter and the operating efficiency ratio improved to 56.21% compared to 63.05% in the prior quarter. For the first half of the year, net income was $180 million, an increase of 68% from the prior year first half. Diluted earnings per share for the first half of 2026 was $1.38 per share, an increase of 48% from the prior year first half. First half net interest income for the first half of 2026 was $545 million, an increase of 37% from the prior year first half. The loan portfolio increased $2.831 billion, or 15% from the prior year first half. Total deposits increased $3.026 billion, or 14% from the prior year first half. The net interest margin as a percentage of earning assets on a tax-equivalent basis for the first half of 2026 was 3.85%, an increase of 73 basis points from the prior year first half. These results clearly show the earnings and operating momentum that has occurred across the company. During the quarter, the board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share. This marks our 165th consecutive quarterly dividend, and we have increased the dividend 49 times over our history. We are encouraged by the results for the second quarter and through the first half of the year. The continued progress in margin, efficiency and disciplined balance sheet growth driven by Glacier's community banking model give us a solid foundation for the remainder of 2026. With that, I will ask the operator to open the line for any questions.
Questions and answers
Thank you. As a reminder to ask a question, please press *11. To withdraw your question, please press *11 again. And our first question comes from Matthew Clark of Piper Sandler. Your line is open.
Good morning. Just wanted to start on the funding side, deposit cost down nicely again here. It would be helpful to have the spot rate at the end of June and then your outlook on deposit cost in general, just assuming the Fed remains on hold and how the competition is these days.
Sure, Matthew. This is Byron. Looking at the spot cost at June 30, our deposit cost was 1.18%, in line with our average for the quarter. In terms of our outlook, I do think our deposit cost will likely be stable from here. Of course, that depends on what the Fed does, but assuming the Fed remains on hold as you mentioned, I would think that we would maintain this level of deposit cost going forward. Now if the Fed does hike rates at some point later in the year, we would have to adjust that outlook a little bit. But I think a good outlook from here is that it remains stable.
Okay. And then just on the loan side, loan growth stepped up here. I think Q3 tends to be a seasonally strong one for you. I wanted to touch base on the pipeline and your outlook for growth.
Yeah, Matthew, this is Tom. Second and third quarters are typically our stronger quarters in the year, more so than the fourth and the first quarter. We have seen that for the last couple of years. I do not see anything that would really change that. Pipelines still remain very healthy. We are seeing pull-through and backfill. Of the tailwinds we also saw in the second quarter with construction draws and entering into the ag growth season, that will continue into the third quarter as well.
Okay. And then maybe one for Ronald. Your expenses came in a lot better than expected. I wanted to get the updated guide for the second half of the year.
Yeah. The updated guide—we are going to stick with the quarterly guide I gave for Q2. So that will be $187 million to $192 million. We recognize we came in lower than that, but some of the discretionary spending could come back in the second half of the year. So we are not changing the guide; we just allow for that. But overall, very, very good control on expenses.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Jeffrey Allen Rulis of D.A. Davidson. Your line is open.
Thank you. Good morning. I have a follow-up on the loan growth, and Randy, you mentioned pretty broad-based growth. I would like to unpack that a little bit. In Q1, you had pretty strong growth out of Texas; it was kind of the lion's share of the growth. Just wanted to understand the geographic contribution to loan growth this quarter.
Sure. As we have stated, we are really operating in two regions: Southwest and Mountain West. The Southwest continues to do very well; I think they are rebuilding the pipeline after a very strong first quarter, so we see really good trends there. In the Mountain West, they had a very strong quarter as well. So I think both are doing very well, and we expect to see that continue.
So they flipped strengths in the quarter in terms of net production as Southwest rebuilds, and going forward it looks like a strong pipeline across the region? Exactly.
Yeah, you are exactly right. Got it.
And, Randy, I want to check in on M&A. It has been a bit quiet nationally, but we are starting to see a pickup recently. Versus last quarter at this time, versus now, any more active discussions? I know you hold a lot of them, but just want to see where we sit on the M&A side.
Sure. I would separate that into two pieces. There are our internal discussions that we have, meaning it is not an official sale—we are talking to people. Those continue to move along at a good pace. What I still see as somewhat muted is the investment banker pipeline: production of deals and where people are officially coming to market. We measure that by the phone calls we get letting us know about those things. It still seems a bit muted, but from the talks I have had with investment bankers, I think we will probably start to see that increase a bit towards the end of the year. Overall, compared to the first quarter, I would say about the same—really probably still a bit muted.
Okay, appreciate it. And sorry, if I could slip in one last one: on the earning asset balance mix and intentions for accelerating loan growth, what are your intentions on the securities portfolio and expectations to start to see earning asset growth? If you could comment on that.
Yeah. As Randy mentioned, we did dip our toes back into the bond market. We purchased about $250 million of bonds in the quarter, and I expect we will continue putting some cash to work going forward. In terms of growth, I do see our earning assets expanding from here. What you saw in Q2 with the decline in earning assets is still a little bit of an echo of the deleveraging that we had going on. We talked a lot about the paydown of our FHLB advances, and that last maturity payoff did not happen until late in Q1. So when you look at the averages of Q1 versus Q2, that still had an impact. Now that is complete, I would expect our earning assets will increase in Q3 and Q4.
Great. Thanks for the color.
Thank you. And our next question comes from Kelly Motta of KBW. Your line is open.
Hi. Good morning. I would love to talk a bit about the margin. You had a few things working in a negative direction this quarter, one being the nonaccrual interest reversal and then a lower level of accretion. If you had a similar level to last quarter, you would have actually come in the mid-3.90s. As we think about an exit 4% margin, it feels like that is in the range. Any updates on how you are thinking about the margin from here? And some commentary on what is a normal level of accretion to assume for modeling purposes would be helpful.
Sure, Kelly. Thank you for the question. We are very pleased that our margin continues to expand, and we expect that it will continue to grow. When you are looking at that 4%, I do think we will hit that 4% level early in the fourth quarter of 2026, and we will keep going from there. So when you think about an exit margin for 2026, I do expect we will be north of 4%. Some of the headwinds you saw were a little bit of an anomaly—timing of payoffs and things like that can move around. It feels to me like that headwind was a bit elevated and we are not expecting that level to continue. I think the level of discount accretion you saw in Q2 is probably a more normal level to assume going forward.
That is really helpful. And I appreciate the color on securities reinvestment. Can you provide additional detail on what you are seeing on loan pricing and any commentary on the competitive dynamics impacting new loan production yields either way? Thank you.
Sure. Kelly, we are still seeing production yields in excess of 6.5%, consistently throughout the quarter. From a competitive standpoint, pricing is the largest competitive factor, and we see it more in the large metro areas versus the smaller markets where we have a more commanding market share. That trend is continuing and I think it will continue into the third quarter. We are still not seeing a lot of competition on underwriting discipline or structure, which is good—at least in the spaces that we operate in. So I am encouraged to see that competition is still primarily focused on pricing.
Got it. That is helpful. With these factors in mind, given the pretty meaningful tailwind of back-book pricing still to come, any preliminary thoughts on what a normalized margin means for Glacier over the longer term? I know it is a little early to talk about 2027, but any initial thoughts?
Kelly, I do think there is a lot of momentum in our asset repricing. Longer term, I think about our margin in terms of a range between 4% and 4.5%, which is more of our historical norm. There are things that can bring us toward the higher end of that range given enough time—a friendly, steeper yield curve would certainly be helpful, and meaningful loan growth will help with the level of new production rates that Tom mentioned. That is going to lift our margin toward the higher end of that range. I do see that we will continue to increase our margin throughout 2027, but ultimately where it normalizes remains to be seen.
Super helpful. Thank you so much for all the color.
Thank you. As a reminder, if you have a question, please press *11. And our next question comes from Evan, on for David Feaster of Raymond James. Your line is open.
Hi. Good morning. I, firstly, wanted to touch on deposit competition across your footprint. You have said in the past you are probably more insulated based on your presence in more rural areas. How do you view competitive funding cost pressures going forward and has there been any change from your prior views?
David, I do not see any change in the level of competition. Competition is strong; it always is, but it is rational. There are always some outliers in our market, but those outliers are not driving the market. As you saw in our results, we were able to bring our deposit cost down a couple of basis points in Q2. From what I see, competition appears to be rational.
Rational. The other thing I would add is the nature of our market: about 75% more rural and 25% more urban. It is both the nature of the market and our focus on core relationships in those markets which really drives the lower cost, and we do not see those dynamics changing.
That is really helpful. Maybe moving to credit, I know there is a slight uptick in nonaccruals, but trends seem solid. What caused that uptick and are there any sectors or segments you are watching more closely than others?
Sure. I would classify it as stable overall. We are not seeing any specific industry, geography, or asset class showing outsized risk. One segment we've been watching closely for over a year is agriculture. 2025 ended up stronger than we anticipated and 2026 is off to a good start, but there have been headwinds in that industry that we are paying attention to. We try to bank long-time operators in the market, and that is no different in the ag sector with multigenerational grower families. They have led through cycles and we see that happening again this time.
Got it. Going back to Texas, you have noted in the past it is still a bit early to see impacts from disruption in the state. Have you seen any emerging trends where you can capitalize on displaced customers or new team members, or other parts of your footprint where there may be dislocation?
We are watching that carefully—bigger banks coming in or acquiring some banks in our markets and the implications of that. There are two areas we are keeping an eye on, one is Colorado with PNC's purchase of FirstBank. It is early, and we have a lot of respect for PNC, but we do see some customers starting to move to our benefit. As these larger banks enter markets, their ability to carry forward the community banking experience people are used to is still to be determined, and initially it seems some movement is in our favor with very good customers. We are happy to talk to those customers and take advantage of the opportunity in Texas. We have very strong commercial lending leadership and they are having success bringing on incremental talent as a result of recent acquisitions. Overall, right now it feels favorable for us, but it is early to draw final conclusions; early trends are positive.
Thanks for the color. I will step back.
Thank you. We have a follow-up question from Kelly Motta of KBW. Your line is open.
Hi. Thanks for letting me jump back on. I wanted to ask about capital management, because with improving profitability, capital continues to build. I appreciate the commentary on M&A, but any other thoughts as you look ahead about capital management?
Kelly, we will have Byron give you some color on that. We have been talking a lot about it since our capital is increasing with earnings growth and the industry broadly is increasing capital. We see that as something that will continue, and Byron can fill in the blanks.
Yeah, Kelly, our capital is strong and will continue to grow with our earnings growth. It is early yet, and we are still evaluating our outlook for capital build. I would say we have a lot of flexibility in how we approach capital return and we are keeping all of our options open. Discussions are ongoing and we are evaluating all of our options.
Appreciate that. Thanks.
I show no further questions at this time. I would like to turn it back to Randy Chesler for closing remarks.
All right. Well, thank you, Didi, and thank you folks for your questions. We appreciate everybody dialing in during the summer and taking time to hear how things are going. Hope you have a great day, great weekend, and great rest of the summer. Thanks for dialing in.
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.