Customers Bancorp Reports Results for First Quarter 2026

WEST READING, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:CUBI):

First Quarter 2026 Highlights

• Q1 2026 net income available to common shareholders was $69.7 million, or $1.97 per diluted share; ROAA was 1.13% and ROCE was 13.16%.
• Q1 2026 core earnings* ¹ were $69.4 million, or $1.97 per diluted share; Core ROAA* was 1.13% and Core ROCE* was 13.12%.
• Total deposits increased $813.9 million, or 3.9% in Q1 2026 from Q4 2025, and $2.7 billion, or 14.0% from Q1 2025.
• Total loans increased $609.0 million, or 3.6%, in Q1 2026 from Q4 2025, and $2.3 billion, or 15.2% from Q1 2025.
• Non-interest bearing deposits increased $436.0 million in Q1 2026 compared to Q4 2025 to a period end record level of $6.7 billion, or 31.2% of total deposits.
• Q1 2026 efficiency ratio was 49.68% compared to Q1 2025 efficiency ratio of 52.94%, a decline of 326 basis points and Q1 2026 core efficiency ratio* was 49.68% compared to Q1 2025 core efficiency ratio* of 52.69%, a decline of 301 basis points.

CEO Commentary

“On January 1, 2026, I had the honor of succeeding Jay Sidhu as Chief Executive Officer of Customers Bancorp. This transition was the culmination of a deliberate, multiyear transition that our Board and leadership team planned carefully to ensure continuity for our clients, our team members and our shareholders,” said Customers Bancorp CEO Sam Sidhu.

“I am pleased to share our first quarter 2026 results that show the company’s continued execution of its strategic priorities and underscore our success in growing franchise value.”

“We got off to a strong start to the year in what is typically a slower quarter, as we continued to strategically grow our loan and deposit portfolios with momentum throughout the organization. Total loans and leases grew by 3.6% in Q1 2026 compared to Q4 2025, with contributions from multiple verticals allowing us to deliver above industry average growth rates without sacrificing on structure or credit quality.

Total deposits increased by 3.9% in Q1 2026 compared to Q4 2025, and we delivered over $230.0 million of non interest bearing deposit growth in Q1 2026 outside of the benefits of our digital asset channel clients. On a net basis, we had an increase of 1,167 commercial accounts, or a 5.0% increase in a single quarter, and the 2025 teams alone added 625 accounts in the quarter.

Our Q1 2026 GAAP earnings were $69.7 million, or $1.97 per diluted share, and core earnings* were $69.4 million, or $1.97 per diluted share. Asset quality remains strong with our NPA ratio at just 0.29% of total assets and reserve levels are robust at 337% of total non-performing loans at the end of Q1 2026. Our TCE / TA ratio* increased by 60 basis points from March 31, 2025 to 8.3% at March 31, 2026, while our balance sheet grew by 4.0% and we repurchased 621,668 shares of common stock at a weighted average price of $68.04 in the quarter.

In Q1 2026, we once again delivered exceptionally strong growth across key metrics of revenue, core earnings, and book value per share of 58%, 28%*, and 16%, respectively, when compared to Q1 2025” Sam Sidhu concluded.

Key Balance Sheet Trends

Loans and Leases Held for Investment

Loans and leases held for investment were $17.4 billion at March 31, 2026, up $615 million, or 3.7%, from December 31, 2025. C&I specialized lending increased by $308 million, or 4.3% quarter-over-quarter to $7.4 billion. Owner-occupied commercial real estate loans increased by $144 million, or 12.7% to $1.3 billion. Mortgage finance loans increased by $131 million, or 7.7% to $1.8 billion. Construction loans increased by $42 million, or 25.8% to $205 million. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in other C&I loans of $30 million, or 2.9% to $1.0 billion.

Loans and leases held for investment of $17.4 billion at March 31, 2026 were up $2.3 billion, or 15.3%, year-over-year. C&I specialized lending increased by $1.3 billion, or 21.9%, year-over-year. Mortgage finance loans increased by $354 million, or 23.9%. Non-owner occupied commercial real estate loans increased by $304 million, or 21.1%. Multifamily loans increased by $189 million, or 8.1%. Owner-occupied commercial real estate loans increased by $140 million, or 12.3%. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in other C&I loans of $59 million, or 5.6%.

Investment Securities

At March 31, 2026, total investment securities were $2.7 billion, a decrease of $10 million compared to December 31, 2025 and a decrease of $339 million compared to a year ago.

At March 31, 2026, the Available-For-Sale (“AFS”) debt securities portfolio had a spot yield of 5.43%, an effective duration of approximately 2.6 years, and approximately 28% are variable rate. Additionally, approximately 74% of the AFS securities portfolio was AAA rated at March 31, 2026.

At March 31, 2026, the Held-To-Maturity (“HTM”) debt securities portfolio represented only 2.6% of total assets, had a spot yield of 3.31% and an effective duration of approximately 3.9 years. Additionally, at March 31, 2026, approximately 63% of the HTM securities were AAA rated and $0.2 billion were credit enhanced asset backed securities with no current expectation of credit losses.

Deposits

Total deposits increased $814 million, or 3.9% to $21.6 billion at March 31, 2026 as compared to the prior quarter. The total average cost of deposits decreased by 8 basis points to 2.46% in Q1 2026 from 2.54% in the prior quarter. Total estimated uninsured deposits were $7.4 billion¹, or 34% of total deposits at March 31, 2026 with immediately available liquidity covering approximately 151% of these deposits.

Total deposits increased $2.7 billion, or 14.0% to $21.6 billion at March 31, 2026 as compared to a year ago. The total average cost of deposits decreased by 36 basis points to 2.46% in Q1 2026 from 2.82% in Q1 2025.

Borrowings

Total borrowings increased $197 million, or 11.6% to $1.9 billion at March 31, 2026 as compared to the prior quarter. This increase primarily resulted from net draws of $240 million in FHLB advances and $70 million in federal funds purchased, partially offset by repayment of Customers Bank’s $110 million subordinated debt in Q1 2026. Total borrowings increased $487 million, or 34.4%, to $1.9 billion at March 31, 2026 as compared to a year ago primarily due to net draws of $430 million in FHLB advances and $70 million in federal funds purchased.

Capital

Customers Bancorp’s common equity increased $29 million to $2.1 billion, and tangible common equity* increased $29 million to $2.1 billion, at March 31, 2026 compared to the prior quarter, respectively, primarily from earnings of $70 million, offset in part by $43 million of common share repurchase. Customers Bancorp’s common equity increased $418 million to $2.1 billion, and tangible common equity* increased $418 million to $2.1 billion, at March 31, 2026 compared to a year ago, respectively, primarily from earnings of $281 million, the issuance of $163 million of common stock in September 2025 and a decrease in AOCI of $13 million (net of taxes), mostly from decreased unrealized losses on investment securities, offset in part by $43 million of common share repurchases. Book value per common share increased to $63.64 from $61.87 and $54.85, and tangible book value per common share* increased to $63.54 from $61.77 and $54.74, at March 31, 2026 from December 31, 2025 and March 31, 2025, respectively.

Credit Quality

The provision for credit losses in Q1 2026 was $23 million, compared to $22 million in Q4 2025 and $28 million in Q1 2025.

Net charge-offs were $13 million in Q1 2026, compared to $14 million in Q4 2025 and $17 million Q1 2025.

The allowance for credit losses on loans and leases was $161 million at March 31, 2026, compared to $156 million at December 31, 2025 and $141 million at March 31, 2025.

Non-performing loans at March 31, 2026 increased to 0.27% of total loans and leases, compared to 0.26% at December 31, 2025 and decreased, compared to 0.29% at March 31, 2025. Nonperforming loans include the guaranteed portion of SBA loans. As of March 31, 2026, nonperforming loans totaled $48 million, of which approximately $12 million represents the government-guaranteed portion. Excluding the government-guaranteed portion, nonperforming loans totaled approximately $36 million, representing 0.21% of total loans and leases.

Key Profitability Trends

Net Interest Income

Net interest income totaled $191.4 million in Q1 2026, a decrease of $13.1 million from Q4 2025. This decrease was driven by a decrease in interest income mainly from C&I loans and interest-earning deposits, partially offset by a decrease in interest expense primarily due to lower market interest rates.

“Net interest income and net interest margin were impacted as expected by the sunsetting of the discount accretion that benefitted Q3 and Q4 2025 as well as a lower day count in the quarter,” stated Customers Bancorp CFO Mark McCollom. “We continue to have positive drivers to net interest income on both sides of the balance sheet. We have a strong loan pipeline and the flywheel from our primarily deposit-focused commercial banking team recruitment strategy continued to gain momentum and our recruitment pipeline remains strong,” said Mark McCollom.

Net interest income totaled $191.4 million in Q1 2026, an increase of $23.9 million from Q1 2025. This increase was primarily due to higher interest income primarily due to higher average loan balances and lower interest expense from a favorable shift in deposit mix and lower market interest rates.

Non-Interest Income

Reported non-interest income totaled $34.3 million for Q1 2026, an increase of $1.8 million compared to $32.5 million for Q4 2025. The increase was primarily due to increases of $3.1 million in loan fees mainly from gains on certain stock warrants, $1.2 million in commercial lease income, $1.1 million in net gain on sale of loans and leases mainly from the sale of SBA loans and $0.9 million in bank-owned life insurance due to higher death benefits. These increases were partially offset by a decrease of $4.9 million in other non-interest income mainly due to a decrease in gain on sale of leased assets and loss on equity investments.

Non-interest income totaled $34.3 million for Q1 2026, an increase of $58.8 million compared to Q1 2025. The increase was primarily due to $51.3 million of impairment loss on certain AFS debt securities that the Bank decided to sell as of March 31, 2025 and increases in commercial lease income of $4.8 million, $3.3 million in loan fees mainly from gains on certain stock warrants and $1.0 million in net gain on sale of loans and leases mainly from the sale of SBA loans, partially offset by a decrease of $1.6 million in bank-owned life insurance income mainly due to lower death benefits received from insurance carriers.

Non-Interest Expense

Non-interest expenses totaled $112.0 million in Q1 2026, a decrease of $5.3 million compared to Q4 2025. The decrease was primarily attributable to decreases within other non-interest expense of $2.2 million in insurance expenses related to investments in tax credit structures with a corresponding benefit to income tax expense in Q4 2025, $1.7 million in provision for credit losses on unfunded lending commitments and $0.8 million in FDIC assessments, partially offset by an increase of $1.0 million in commercial lease depreciation associated with the Bank’s continued growth.

“In Q4 2025, we had a total of $4.8 million of expense that was unique to the quarter and taking this impact into account, expenses were down modestly quarter over quarter even as we continue to invest in our future. We successfully achieved our initial operational excellence goal of $20 million in annual run rate revenue enhancements and expense savings providing capacity for further investment in the franchise. Importantly we are driving significant positive operating leverage with core revenue* growth of 16% and core expense* growth of only 9% in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025. This drove an over 300 basis point decline in our core efficiency ratio* over that same time period,” stated Mark McCollom.

Non-interest expenses totaled $112.0 million in Q1 2026, an increase of $9.2 million compared to Q1 2025. The increase was primarily attributable to increases of $8.6 million in salaries and employee benefits and $4.2 million in commercial lease depreciation associated with the Bank’s continued growth. These increases were partially offset by a decrease of $3.5 million in FDIC assessments.

Taxes

Income tax expense decreased by $2.2 million to a provision of $20.7 million in Q1 2026 from $22.8 million in Q4 2025 primarily due to lower pre-tax income and an increase in discrete tax benefits including benefits associated with stock-based compensation and adjustments related to prior tax positions, and increased by $21.7 million from a benefit to provision of $1.0 million in Q1 2025 primarily due to higher pre-tax income and lower investment tax credits. The effective tax rate was 22.9% for Q1 2026.

Outlook

“We were very pleased with the start to 2026 and remain focused on executing in those areas which differentiate us from our peers. We believe that truly exceptional service, sophisticated product offerings, recruitment of top talent, exceptional payment capabilities, and a single point of contact service model will deliver sustainable long-term growth.

There are four priorities that will command our attention and investment in 2026. First, we are targeting to increase our utilization of AI and automation technologies to transform our organization by providing enhanced client experiences and organizational productivity. Second, we will seek to deepen and broaden our payments capabilities by widening the industries and use cases we serve and by strengthening relationships with existing clients through expanded product offerings. Third, we will look to continue to deliver above industry average loan and deposit portfolio growth and build upon our successful team recruitment strategy. And fourth, we will seek to do this while operating with a high standard of regulatory and risk management excellence and maintaining a strong capital base, liquidity, and credit quality.

We believe we are incredibly well positioned to continue to achieve these goals and deliver excellent client service and strong financial performance in 2026 and beyond,” concluded Sam Sidhu.

The live audio webcast, presentation slides, and earnings press release will be made available at https://www.customersbank.com and at the Customers Bancorp 1st Quarter Earnings Webcast.

You may submit questions in advance of the live webcast by emailing our Chief Marketing Officer, Laura Vele at [email protected].

The webcast will be archived for viewing on the Customers Bank Investor Relations page and available beginning approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live event.

Institutional Background

Customers Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:CUBI) is one of the nation’s top-performing banking companies with nearly $26 billion in assets making it one of the 80 largest bank holding companies in the U.S. Customers Bank’s commercial and consumer clients benefit from a full suite of technology-enabled tailored product experiences delivered by best-in-class customer service distinguished by a Single Point of Contact approach. In addition to traditional lines such as C&I, commercial real estate, and residential and personal lending, Customers Bank also provides a number of national corporate banking services to clients in businesses including: fund finance, venture banking, healthcare, mortgage finance, and equipment finance. Major accolades include:

• Named a Top 10 Performing Bank by American Banker for five consecutive years (2021-2025), including the #1 spot in 2024 among midsize banks ($10B to $50B in assets)
• No. 72 out of the 100 largest publicly traded banks in 2025 Forbes Best Banks list
• Net Promoter Score of 81 compared to industry average of 41

A member of the Federal Reserve System with deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Customers Bank is an equal opportunity lender. Learn more: www.customersbank.com.

“Safe Harbor” Statement

In addition to historical information, this press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements with respect to Customers Bancorp, Inc.’s strategies, goals, beliefs, expectations, estimates, intentions, capital raising efforts, financial condition and results of operations, future performance and business. Statements preceded by, followed by, or that include the words “may,” “could,” “should,” “pro forma,” “looking forward,” “would,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” or similar expressions generally indicate a forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various important factors (some of which, in whole or in part, are beyond Customers Bancorp, Inc.’s control). Numerous competitive, economic, regulatory, legal and technological events and factors, among others, could cause Customers Bancorp, Inc.’s financial performance to differ materially from the goals, plans, objectives, intentions and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements, including: a continuation of the recent turmoil in the banking industry, responsive measures taken by us and regulatory authorities to mitigate and manage related risks, regulatory actions taken that address related issues and the costs and obligations associated therewith, such as the FDIC special assessments; the potential for negative consequences resulting from regulatory violations, investigations and examinations, including potential supervisory actions, the assessment of fines and penalties, the imposition of sanctions, the need to undertake remedial actions and possible damage to our reputation; effects of competition on deposit rates and growth, loan rates and growth and net interest margin; failure to identify and adequately and promptly address cybersecurity risks, including data breaches and cyberattacks; public health crises and pandemics and their effects on the economic and business environments in which we operate; geopolitical conditions, including acts or threats of terrorism, actions taken by the United States or other governments in response to acts or threats of terrorism and military conflicts, including the war between Russia and Ukraine and ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which could impact economic conditions in the United States; the impact that changes in the economy have on the performance of our loan and lease portfolio, the market value of our investment securities, the demand for our products and services and the availability of sources of funding; the effects of actions by the federal government, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and other government agencies, that affect market interest rates and the money supply; actions that we and our customers take in response to these developments and the effects such actions have on our operations, products, services and customer relationships; higher inflation and its impacts; the effects of changes in U.S. trade policies, including the imposition of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs on its trading partners; and the effects of any changes in accounting standards or policies. Customers Bancorp, Inc. cautions that the foregoing factors are not exclusive, and neither such factors nor any such forward-looking statement takes into account the impact of any future events. All forward-looking statements and information set forth herein are based on management’s current beliefs and assumptions as of the date hereof and speak only as of the date they are made. For a more complete discussion of the assumptions, risks and uncertainties related to our business, you are encouraged to review Customers Bancorp, Inc.’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, including any amendments thereto, that update or provide information in addition to the information included in the Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings, if any. Customers Bancorp, Inc. does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by Customers Bancorp, Inc. or by or on behalf of Customers Bank, except as may be required under applicable law.