Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) reported first-quarter 2026 net income of $227 million, marking its fifth consecutive quarter of record earnings, as management pointed to steady net interest margin performance, solid organic balance sheet growth, and stable credit quality.
President and CEO Tim Crane said the quarter was “very solid and straightforward,” noting that “all of our growth is organic” and that the company continues to focus on customer experience, disciplined growth with prudent risk management, and investing for the future. Wintrust also highlighted external recognition during the quarter, including additional J.D. Power recognition for Illinois banking services and multiple Coalition Greenwich awards for commercial middle-market banking services.
Balance sheet growth and margin trends
Lower short-term interest rates pressured both asset yields and deposit costs, but the company reported a slightly improved gross spread. Dykstra said loan yields fell 13 basis points from the prior quarter while interest-bearing deposit costs declined 16 basis points.
Net interest income declined slightly from the fourth quarter of 2025, which Dykstra attributed largely to having two fewer days in the quarter. The company reported a net interest margin of 3.56% for the first quarter; Dykstra said the day-count impact boosted margin by two basis points. He also emphasized that the net interest margin has ranged between 3.50% and 3.59% over the past nine quarters, calling it “sustainability of our net interest margin.”
In the Q&A, Dykstra reiterated management’s outlook for a relatively stable margin in the “3.50s% range,” adding that the bank added three new swaps during the quarter and continues to manage toward a neutral rate sensitivity profile.
Fee income and expenses
Total non-interest income increased to $134.1 million from $130.4 million in the prior quarter. Dykstra said the increase was driven by “strong wealth management and operating lease revenues,” while mortgage banking remained subdued and production-related volumes and revenue were “essentially unchanged” from the prior quarter.
During Q&A, Crane described wealth management as “a business we like and one that we’re growing steadily,” but said part of the first-quarter strength was seasonal. He suggested a level between the fourth-quarter and first-quarter results as a better run-rate view going forward.
On operating lease income, Vice Chairman and Chief Lending Officer Richard Murphy said results can vary quarter to quarter due to equipment sale gains, and he suggested a run rate “somewhere between” recent quarters, while noting it is “not out of the question that it could be” at the higher level again depending on the size of gains.
Non-interest expenses were $382.6 million, slightly lower than $384.5 million in the prior quarter. Dykstra said higher salaries and employee benefits from annual merit increases were offset by lower OREO expense, travel and entertainment, and other items. Management said efficiency and overhead ratios improved slightly versus the prior quarter.
Looking ahead, Dykstra said the first quarter typically represents a seasonal low for expenses, and the company expects expenses to be higher in the second quarter due to a full quarter of salary increases, increased marketing, and higher seasonal travel and entertainment. He maintained an outlook for “mid-single digit year-over-year expense growth” for full-year 2026 versus 2025.
Loan mix, pipelines, and second-quarter outlook
Murphy said first-quarter loan growth of about $966 million was broad-based:
- Commercial loans grew $719 million, including about $286 million in mortgage warehouse.
- Commercial real estate loans increased $222 million.
- The Wintrust Life Finance portfolio grew $173 million.
- Residential mortgage also posted a “very solid quarter,” according to Murphy.
Management said the quarter’s back-end-loaded growth reflected timing of payoffs earlier in the quarter and strong mortgage warehouse line growth near quarter-end. Murphy told analysts the company’s C&I pipeline is “probably as good as they’ve ever been,” adding that customer sentiment in the Midwest remains constructive.
Crane said the company expects “outsized loan growth” in the second quarter, largely due to the seasonal strength of its property and casualty (P&C) premium finance business. Longer term, he said pipelines are solid and Wintrust expects “mid- to high-single-digit loan growth for the remainder of the year.”
In discussing premium finance, Crane noted the business may not have as much tailwind from premium growth as in prior years, but said unit growth remains encouraging. Murphy added that Wintrust has invested significantly in technology for the premium finance platform and aims to be “the premier provider in that space.”
Credit quality and areas of focus
Credit metrics were described as stable. Murphy said non-performing loans declined slightly to $182.8 million, or 0.34% of total loans, from $185.8 million, or 0.35%, while net charge-offs were 14 basis points, down from 17 basis points in the prior quarter. Dykstra said the provision for credit losses stayed in the $20 million to $30 million range seen across the quarterly periods of 2025.
Murphy also addressed several portfolio concentrations and monitoring areas. He said exposure to non-depository financial institutions totals about $3.2 billion, or roughly 6% of the total loan portfolio, with the largest component tied to the mortgage warehouse business. He also cited about $341 million in capital call facilities and described the remaining exposure as diversified across leasing companies, captive finance companies, insurance carriers, and broker-dealers.
Commercial real estate remains a key focus, with Murphy noting CRE loans represent roughly one-quarter of the portfolio. He said CRE non-performing loans remained low, declining from 0.18% to 0.12%, and that charge-offs remain historically low. Wintrust’s CRE office exposure was cited at $1.7 billion, representing 11.7% of CRE and 3.1% of total loans, with Murphy saying the most recent quarterly “deep dive analysis showed very consistent results when compared to prior quarters.”
Asked about an increase in special mention loans, Murphy said the change was in the commercial portfolio and reflected active loan rating practices and “one-off situations,” adding he did not see anything systemic and expects the level to “hang around this level here for the next few quarters.”
Deposits, branch expansion, and capital considerations
On deposit competition, Crane said pricing in Chicago remains “fairly reasonable,” citing promotional CDs “kind of at the 4% range” and promotional money markets “in the low threes,” and adding the bank is not seeing anything “atypical” in its markets.
Crane also said Wintrust plans to open “several branches” in the second half of the year across its three markets, describing the effort as both entering new sub-markets and opportunistically expanding alongside population shifts. He said Wintrust would be aggressive when entering new markets to build deposit size quickly, though he did not expect the effort to materially change overall financial trajectory in a way that would be “easily recognizable.” Dykstra said the new branches are included in the bank’s expense forecast.
On capital, Crane said the company ended the quarter with a CET1 ratio of 10.4% and noted that substantial second-quarter growth could keep the ratio flat or even slightly lower. He also discussed evaluating proposed capital rule changes, estimating that the proposed standardized approach could reduce risk-weighted assets by about 6% to 7%, equating to “about a 60-70 basis points improvement in CET1” if adopted as proposed.
Crane said the company would evaluate capital actions after crossing roughly 10.5% CET1, depending on regulatory outcomes, while emphasizing priorities including organic growth, potential acquisitions, and the existing authorization for share repurchases. He added that M&A discussions remain “more exploration than anything else.”
The call also included corporate governance updates. Crane said longtime board members Pat Hackett and Bill Doyle will conclude their service at the annual meeting, and he congratulated Brian Kinney, who is expected to succeed Hackett as chairman pending re-election.
About Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC)
Wintrust Financial Corporation is a Chicago‐area bank holding company headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois. Through its primary subsidiary, Wintrust Bank, the company operates a network of community banks serving metropolitan Chicago and select markets in southeastern Wisconsin. These locally branded banks provide personalized commercial and consumer banking solutions tailored to small and mid‐size businesses, professionals, and individual clients.
The firm’s core offerings include deposit products, commercial and residential lending, treasury management, and mortgage banking services.
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