FB Financial's Q1 Win: Profits and Customer Trust Drive Growth

NASHVILLE, TN – April 13, 2026 – FB Financial Corporation (NYSE: FBK) kicked off 2026 with a robust first-quarter performance, reporting significant year-over-year growth in earnings, loans, and deposits. The parent company of FirstBank announced a net income of $57.5 million, or $1.10 per diluted share, a notable increase from $0.84 in the same quarter last year. This financial success was coupled with a prestigious industry accolade, reinforcing the bank's strategic focus on customer relationships.

The Nashville-based financial holding company showcased a healthy balance sheet, with total assets expanding to approximately $16.5 billion. The results reflect a successful navigation of a shifting interest rate environment and underscore a strategy that President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher T. Holmes described as a “very compelling formula.”

“When you have the highest level of endorsement from your customers about their satisfaction and you combine that with top-tier financial performance and one of the best geographies in the country, we believe we have a very compelling formula for creating value for our shareholders today and over the long term,” Holmes stated in the earnings release.

A Blueprint Fueled by Customer Trust

A cornerstone of FB Financial's first-quarter narrative is its subsidiary FirstBank being named the top bank for customer satisfaction and trust in the South Central Region by J.D. Power. This recognition, part of the independent and long-running U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, is based on feedback from over 100,000 retail banking customers. FirstBank not only secured the top overall spot but also ranked highest for “trust” and “its people,” lending empirical weight to the company’s customer-centric model.

This high level of customer trust appears to be translating directly into tangible business growth. The company reported a significant expansion of its loan portfolio and deposit base, far outpacing the previous year's figures. Loans held for investment surged to $12.50 billion, a 28% increase from $9.77 billion in the first quarter of 2025. This growth was broad-based, with increases seen across commercial and industrial loans, consumer loans, and real estate categories.

On the other side of the ledger, total deposits grew to $14.08 billion, a 25.7% jump from $11.20 billion a year prior. This growth demonstrates the bank's ability to attract and retain customer funds in a competitive market. The bank’s operations across Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia benefit from favorable regional economic conditions. Economic forecasts for states like Tennessee and Alabama project modest but steady GDP and job growth through 2026, supporting the bank's lending activities and reinforcing the CEO's confidence in the region's economic strength.

Navigating a Shifting Rate Landscape

While many regional banks have faced pressure on profitability, FB Financial demonstrated adept management of its net interest margin (NIM), a key measure of lending profitability. The bank's NIM for the first quarter was 3.94%, a slight dip from the prior quarter's 3.98% but a substantial improvement over the 3.55% reported in the first quarter of 2025.

The minor sequential decrease was attributed to moderating yields on assets, a ripple effect from the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts in late 2025. However, the bank successfully counteracted this pressure by actively managing its funding expenses. The total cost of deposits decreased to 2.27% from 2.40% in the previous quarter, a move that helped preserve the strong year-over-year margin expansion.

“While asset yields moderated following recent rate cuts, disciplined pricing and lower funding costs helped offset that pressure,” Holmes commented. “Our deposit mix and repricing momentum position us well as we move through the year.”

This performance is particularly noteworthy given the broader market context. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in the first quarter of 2026, leading to mixed NIM results across the regional banking sector. FB Financial’s ability to lower its cost of funds while growing its deposit base highlights an effective balance sheet strategy that distinguishes it from peers.

Bolstering the Balance Sheet and Shareholder Value

Beyond top-line growth, FB Financial also strengthened its operational and financial fundamentals. The company's credit quality remained sound, with nonperforming loans as a percentage of total loans holding steady at 0.96%. More impressively, the annualized net charge-off rate was just 0.11%, significantly below reported industry averages for regional banks, which hovered closer to 0.55% in early 2026. This indicates a disciplined and proactive approach to risk management within its growing loan portfolio.

“Our credit quality remained sound during the quarter, supported by stable asset quality metrics,” Holmes noted, adding that the bank’s allowance for credit losses reflects the current economic outlook and a proactive risk management stance.

Operationally, the bank showed marked improvement in efficiency. Its adjusted efficiency ratio improved to 54.3%, down from 56.3% in the prior quarter and 59.9% a year ago. A lower efficiency ratio indicates that a bank is spending less to generate its revenue. Chief Financial Officer Michael Mettee attributed the improvement to the normalization of incentive and personnel costs and a continued focus on achieving operating scale.

FB Financial also maintained a robust capital position, with a tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio of 9.91%. This capital strength provides significant flexibility, which the company is actively using to create shareholder value. During the quarter, FB Financial repurchased 426,983 shares as part of a larger $150 million share repurchase program authorized through early 2027. This strategy, combined with a regulatory environment that has provided some capital relief for banks of its size, allows the company to support organic growth while also returning capital to its investors. This balanced approach to capital deployment, coupled with a strong start to the year, positions the company confidently for the quarters ahead.