Amerant Q3 2026 Earnings: Margin Expansion Lifts Profitability

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE: AMTB) reported Q3 2026 total revenue of approximately $108.8 million, down about 2.4% from $111.4 million a year earlier, while diluted EPS increased to $0.65 from $0.35. Net income attributable to Amerant rose about 74% to $25.7 million as lower noninterest expense and a smaller credit-loss provision more than offset the decline in net interest income. Sequentially, net interest margin expanded to 3.77% from 3.52%, although $1.6 million of additional interest from repayments of previously nonaccrual loans contributed to the improvement.

Core Earnings Data

Amerant’s year-over-year earnings growth came primarily from lower costs and credit provisions rather than revenue expansion. Net interest income declined about 3.9% from Q3 2025, while noninterest income increased about 6.1%.

Compared with Q2 2026, the operating picture improved more clearly: net interest income rose 9.6%, noninterest expense was nearly unchanged, and non-GAAP pre-tax pre-provision net revenue increased 24.6% to $39.7 million.

¹ Calculated as net interest income plus noninterest income.
² Pre-tax pre-provision net revenue is a non-GAAP measure. Amounts and percentage changes are rounded.

Profitability and Balance Sheet

Net Interest Margin Improved Sequentially

Net interest margin increased by 25 basis points from Q2 to 3.77%, supported by a higher average loan yield and lower deposit costs. The average loan yield rose to 6.35% from 6.22%, while the cost of total deposits declined to 2.07% from 2.21%.

The comparison with Q3 2025 was less favorable. Net interest margin remained below the year-earlier level of 3.92%, and the average loan yield was down from 6.93%. Amerant also recorded $1.6 million of additional interest from repayments of loans previously in nonaccrual status, meaning that part of the sequential margin expansion reflected a quarter-specific benefit.

The efficiency ratio improved to 63.51% from 68.37% in Q2 and 69.84% a year earlier. Return on average assets reached 1.00%, while return on average equity rose to 11.29%, compared with 0.57% and 6.21%, respectively, in Q3 2025.

Loan Growth Outpaced Deposits

Gross loans increased 3.0% sequentially to $7.07 billion and were about 1.9% above the prior-year level. Total deposits declined 1.3% from Q2 to $8.25 billion, while core deposits fell 2.0% sequentially to $6.32 billion but remained above the $6.20 billion reported a year earlier.

This divergence raised the loan-to-deposit ratio to 85.78% from 82.17% in Q2 and 83.63% in Q3 2025. The balance sheet also shifted away from investments: total investments declined $382.8 million sequentially to $2.23 billion, while cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash increased $60.3 million to $361.5 million.

FHLB advances increased modestly from Q2 to $715.0 million. Amerant also completed a $50.0 million offering of 7.00% senior notes due in 2031. Separately, assets under management and custody reached $3.45 billion, up 2.3% sequentially and about 8.8% year over year.

Regulatory capital ratios strengthened slightly, with the common equity Tier 1 ratio rising to 12.07% from 11.94% in Q2. However, the tangible common equity ratio declined to 8.04% from 8.69%, and tangible book value per share fell to $20.94 from $22.78. Amerant repurchased 70,592 shares for approximately $2.0 million at an average price of $28.47 and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share.

Asset Quality Improved Sequentially but Still Trails Last Year

Nonperforming assets declined 14.5% from Q2 to $159.5 million, while classified loans fell 22.0% to $213.0 million. Management attributed the reductions in classified and nonperforming loans primarily to payoffs during the quarter.

The improvement was not uniform. Special-mention loans increased 10.0% sequentially to $120.7 million because of downgrades. The ratio of nonperforming assets to total assets improved to 1.56% from 1.81% in Q2 but remained above 1.34% a year earlier. Similarly, nonperforming loans represented 2.11% of gross loans, compared with 2.49% in Q2 and 1.79% in Q3 2025.

The allowance for credit losses increased to $94.8 million from $85.5 million in Q2. Its coverage of nonperforming loans improved to 63.45% from 49.97% sequentially but remained below the year-earlier level of 76.37%. The quarterly provision increased to $6.2 million from $4.8 million in Q2, although it was substantially below the $14.6 million recorded a year earlier.

Investor Risks to Watch

• Credit migration remains mixed: Payoffs reduced nonperforming and classified loans, but special-mention loans increased because of downgrades. Credit-quality ratios also remained weaker than a year earlier.
• Some margin improvement may not repeat: Q3 net interest income included $1.6 million of additional interest from repayments of previously nonaccrual loans, and net interest margin remained below its Q3 2025 level.
• Loan growth is increasing funding demands: Loans expanded while total and core deposits declined sequentially, raising the loan-to-deposit ratio and increasing the importance of deposit retention and other funding sources.
• Tangible capital metrics declined: Despite modestly stronger regulatory capital ratios, tangible common equity and tangible book value per share fell from Q2.

Summary

Amerant produced substantially higher Q3 2026 earnings despite a modest year-over-year decline in total revenue. Lower expenses and credit provisions supported the profit increase, while sequential margin expansion and loan growth improved operating momentum. The next key issues are whether margin gains can persist without the nonaccrual-loan interest benefit, whether deposit funding can keep pace with loan growth, and whether lower problem-loan balances can outweigh the increase in special-mention credits.