Pinnacle Financial Posts $2.40 Third-Quarter EPS Versus $2.19, Leaves 2026 Guidance Unchanged
Loans and deposits each rose 2% from the prior quarter, while the bank's net interest margin slipped to 3.40%.
Pinnacle Financial Partners earned $364 million for common shareholders in the third quarter, or $2.40 per diluted share, versus $2.19 a year earlier, according to an 8-K filed Wednesday. The slide deck attached to the filing says there is no change to full-year guidance.
What the results show
Adjusted earnings, which leave out merger-related expenses, investment securities losses and certain other items, were $409 million, or $2.69 per diluted share, against $2.27 in the year-earlier quarter. Total revenue was $1,312 million.
Net interest income grew 3% to $986 million. The net interest margin, a measure of lending profit, fell 4 basis points (0.04 percentage points) from the prior quarter to 3.40%. The company blamed rising deposit costs and a liquidity build funded by wholesale borrowing.
Period-end loans rose $1.7 billion, or 2%, to $89.8 billion. Deposits rose $2.1 billion, or 2%, to $103 billion, which the company said fit its seasonal pattern.
CEO Kevin Blair said the merger "changed our size, not how we perform."
What it changes
Pinnacle and Synovus Financial closed their merger on Jan. 1, 2026. The company warns that year-over-year comparisons are significantly distorted by the much larger acquired balance sheet and purchase accounting.
Merger-related expense was $56 million in the quarter and $382 million for the first nine months. The slide deck says third-quarter merger costs are tracking in line with expectations set at the deal's announcement.
The guidance slide carries a "No Change to Prior Guidance" banner. Within it, period-end loans are trending to the high end of the 9-11% growth range, and adjusted revenue is trending above the midpoint of $5.00 billion to $5.20 billion.
Pinnacle also raised its 2026 hiring target for experienced revenue producers to 250 or more. It had hired 222 so far this year, 89% of that goal, including 96 in the third quarter.
NYSE halted the stock at 14:35:15 ET Wednesday under code T1 (news pending), with no resumption time posted. The shares had traded at $95.42, up 0.14% from the prior close, in Wednesday trading.
What to watch
Pinnacle holds its earnings call and webcast at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday. The slide deck guides to fourth-quarter taxable-equivalent net interest income of $1.015 billion to $1.035 billion.
The deck also says no share repurchases are expected in 2026, and it puts the bank's preliminary common equity tier 1 capital ratio at 10.01%, against a stated 10.25% objective.
Sources
- 8-K Filing — Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. (PNFP) — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit pnfp_09302026xex991xfiling.htm — Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- Exhibit pnfp_09302026xex992filin.htm — Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. 8-K exhibit — SEC EDGAR
- Countdown to Pinnacle Financial (PNFP) Q3 Earnings: A Look at Estimates Beyond Revenue and EPS — Yahoo Finance
- Kevin Blair reflects on first nine months leading Pinnacle Financial Partners - Nashville Business Journal — bizjournals.com
