Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL) Earnings
Western Alliance Bancorporation is expected to report next earnings on July 16, 2026 (in NaN days), with a consensus EPS estimate of $2.42. WAL has beaten EPS estimates in 7 of its last 12 reported quarters (average surprise +17.5% over the last four).
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 2026 | $1.48 | $2.22 | +50.0% | $1.0B | +6.3% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | $2.40 | $2.59 | +7.9% | $955M | +4.5% |
| Oct 21, 2025 | $2.08 | $2.28 | +9.6% | $923M | +3.9% |
| Jul 17, 2025 | $2.02 | $2.07 | +2.5% | $846M | +0.9% |
| Jan 27, 2025 | $1.92 | $1.95 | +1.6% | $836M | +3.9% |
| Oct 17, 2024 | $1.89 | $1.80 | -4.8% | $823M | +1.8% |
| Jul 18, 2024 | $1.71 | $1.75 | +2.3% | $774M | +4.9% |
| Apr 18, 2024 | $1.66 | $1.60 | -3.6% | $729M | +3.2% |
| Jan 25, 2024 | $1.93 | $1.91 | -1.0% | $685M | -2.1% |
| Oct 19, 2023 | $1.91 | $1.84 | -3.7% | $720M | +5.2% |
| Jul 18, 2023 | $1.98 | $1.96 | -1.0% | $668M | +2.3% |
| Apr 18, 2023 | $2.05 | $2.30 | +12.2% | $549M | -17.7% |
Source: company filings + earnings calendar. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
Earnings call summary
Q1 FY2026 · April 22, 2026
AI summary of management’s prepared remarks and analyst Q&A. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
Management highlights
• Kenneth A. Vecchione mentioned strong core business performance alongside decisive actions on fraud-related credits. Adjusting for these actions, earnings per share were $2.22. • Discussed charge-offs related to Leucadia Asset Management loan and Cantor Group Five loan, including charge-off amounts and recovery expectations. • Highlighted deposit growth of $5.6 billion, interest-bearing deposit costs decline, net interest margin increase, loan growth, adjusted pre-provision net revenue growth, and efficiency ratio improvement. • Vishal Idnani detailed net interest income, noninterest income, noninterest expense, provision expense, adjusted net income, and balance sheet details such as cash and securities, loans, deposits, and share repurchases. • Kenneth A. Vecchione reviewed updated 2026 outlook including loan growth, deposit growth, CET1 target, net interest income growth, noninterest income growth, noninterest expense growth, asset quality guidance, effective tax rate, and upcoming investor day.
Guidance
• Reiterates $6 billion HFI loan growth expectation and $8 billion deposit growth target unchanged. • CET1 target remains 11%, not expecting meaningful change in near term. • Net interest income growth projected in 11%-14% range, now expecting upper end due to no rate cuts this year, unchanged loan growth outlook, and deposit composition optimization. • Noninterest income, excluding security sales, projected to grow 13%-17%. • Total noninterest expense expected to increase 7%-11%. • Deposit cost range $650 million-$700 million. • Operating expenses expected $1.6 billion-$1.65 billion. • Core net charge-off guidance 25-35 basis points, excluding fraud-related charge-offs, full-year results at or slightly above midpoint. • Effective tax rate outlook approximately 19%.
Segment performance
Deposit growth was exceptional at $5.6 billion on a quarterly basis, putting the company ahead of pace to reaching its $8 billion deposit growth target for 2026. Interest-bearing deposit costs declined 21 basis points, contributing to a 3 basis point quarterly increase in net interest margin to 3.54%. Total loans grew $903 million this quarter, split nearly evenly between the HFI and HFS portfolios. Adjusted pre-provision net revenue was $394 million, up 42% from the same quarter a year ago. The efficiency ratio of 56% and adjusted efficiency ratio of 48% both improved by approximately 8 percentage points year over year.
Analyst Q&A
Q: Touch on Cantor loan write-off and reliance on personal guarantees.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said appraisals held to forecast, liens less than thought, multiple resolution strategies, $26.5 million charge-off, will go after high net worth individuals and mortgage bond later.
Q: On service charges driven by Juris, normalized run-rate.
A: Vishal Idnani said fees lumpy, anticipate Q2 and Q3 decline, Q4 spike, business continues well, won next large settlement but timing unclear.
Q: Deposit costs ECR beta and settlement.
A: Vishal Idnani said ECR beta 65%-70% for three businesses, continuing to push down deposit cost, planning to hold mortgage warehouse deposits flat and focus on HOA and Juris growth.
Q: Asset quality and exposure to software companies.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said limited exposure to software companies in private credit book, under 5% of total book, granular approach, no problems seen.
Q: Loan-to-deposit ratio timing and deposit optimization.
A: Vishal Idnani said target mid-70% loan-to-deposit ratio by end of year, deposit optimization to push down highest-cost deposits, Q2 deposits may not be at typical run-rate.
Q: Basel III proposal impact on capital ratio.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said positive, expects CET1 increase by 81 basis points.
Q: Operating expense guide and variable comp.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said $50 million mitigating actions, $20 million lower than January, due to higher Juris banking fee income and expected better mortgage business, variable comp related to production.
Q: Mortgage warehouse deposits and market rebound.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said finessing deposit growth and pricing, expecting Q2 deposits flat, Q3 seasonally high production, Q4 less runoff, working with clients to lower deposit costs.
Q: Reevaluating credits and loan composition.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said touch conservative, took wait-and-see approach, robust pipelines, Timothy R. Bruckner said asset growth in core commercial full-relationship segments, pullback in asset-specific finance-oriented segments.
Q: Credit past peak and allowance ratio.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said special mention increase not big deal, criticized assets to Tier 1 capital plus ACL below peer median, ACL reserves to move up to low eighties as loan composition changes.
Q: Buybacks and balancing capital, valuation.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said important to maintain ratings and capital for long-term growth, not expecting deep back into market for buybacks, will support if stock disrupted.
Q: Lender finance data and exposure.
A: Vishal Idnani said lender finance book part of NDFI bucket, $2.3 billion within that, Kenneth A. Vecchione said top end of credit in private credit portfolio about $60 million commitment, granular, trustee role helps oversight.
Q: Lender finance portfolio reserve methodology and growth.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said loan loss reserve to move to low eighties, not releasing, will build provision. Vishal Idnani said total ACL to funded loans to go to low nineties. Kenneth A. Vecchione said lender finance portfolio will grow as rest of portfolio grows.
Q: Loan reserves to 1%.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said based on economic forecasts and portfolio review, not arbitrary. Vishal Idnani said total ACL to funded loans 87 basis points, if remove residential mortgages sold credit, ACL to funded loans 1%.
Q: Service fees run-rate.
A: Vishal Idnani said not providing run-rate, gave guidance on fee income, mortgage banking, service charges and fees trending down in Q2 and Q3, up in Q4.
Q: Leucadia loan resolution and fee guide.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said took $50 million revenue and $50 million expenses, not articulated how to resolve remaining $20 million-$26 million, took advice to not fully resolve to ensure product development and growth.
Q: Investor day preview.
A: Kenneth A. Vecchione said will talk about why they can grow when others can't, show how growth is well thought out.