EQBK

The GAAP picture looks ugly — net income fell 63.7% to $22.7M and diluted EPS collapsed to $1.23 — but the 10-K makes clear this is a noise year, not a deterioration. The income statement carries a $53.2M loss on securities transactions (a one-time AFS portfolio repositioning) plus $8.1M of merger expense. Management's core EPS reconciliation lands at $4.39 vs. $4.43 in 2024 — essentially flat — and core ROAA of 1.42% and core ROAE of 11.58% are both improvements over prior-year core levels. At $48.52, that's roughly 11x core earnings and ~1.48x tangible book ($32.86), which is undemanding for a community bank actually growing.

The underlying engine is working. Net interest income jumped to $226.1M from $186.2M (+21%) as NIM expanded 35 bps to 4.33% — the cost of interest-bearing deposits actually fell to 2.47% from 2.80% while loan yields stayed at 7.04%. Gross loans grew 20% to $4.2B and deposits grew 17% to $5.14B, partly via M&A (goodwill stepped up to $103.7M from $68.1M). Capital is robust: CET1 13.08%, Tier 1 leverage 10.64%, total risk-based 16.31% — all well above 'well-capitalized' thresholds per the MD&A, leaving room to keep buying back stock ($14.0M in 2025) and to absorb the rising dividend ($11.4M, +44.7%).