Wintrust Sustains Net Interest Income Recovery With Less Margin Pressure

The Tip Desk · October 21, 2026 · 4 min read

Wintrust’s third-quarter net interest income reached $621.6 million, extending its recovery even as loan growth slowed.

Wintrust Financial (WTFC), the community-banking, specialty-finance and wealth-management company, extended its net interest income recovery in the third quarter of 2026, while the squeeze on its lending margin eased. Net interest income reached $621.6 million, following $597.4 million in the second quarter and $579.0 million in the first. The successive quarterly gains widened, with the company attributing the latest increase to growth in average earning assets.

Net interest margin on a GAAP basis slipped 1 bp to 3.49%, after declining 4 bps to 3.50% in the second quarter from 3.54% in the first. On a fully taxable-equivalent basis, a non-GAAP measure, the third-quarter margin was 3.51%. In his quarterly comments, Crane cited third-quarter margin of 3.51% and second-quarter margin of 3.52% without specifying a basis. The latest quarter’s earning-asset yield was flat, while loan yields and interest-bearing deposit costs each declined 1 bp. That left balance-sheet expansion carrying the interest income recovery, rather than an improvement in the spread earned on assets.

Loan growth nevertheless slowed to 8% on an annualized QoQ basis from 12% in the second quarter. Deposits ended September at $62.44 billion, with non-interest-bearing balances accounting for 19% of the total. The period-end loans-to-deposits ratio was 91.0%. The company said loan growth was diversified across its major portfolios and attributed organic deposit growth to its customer base and product offerings.

Quarterly net income was $239.1 million, or $3.37 a share, marking a seventh consecutive quarterly record, the company said. Pre-tax, pre-provision income, a non-GAAP measure, was $352.2 million. Those results came with a weaker contribution from non-interest income and without the expense benefit of the preceding quarter’s deposit-insurance assessment reversal.

Non-interest income fell to $136.3 million from $141.3 million in the second quarter. Within Community Banking, mortgage banking revenue was $25.5 million; the company attributed its decline to lower originations and related operational revenue. Deposit-account service charges contributed $22.2 million. The company also recorded $1.6 million of net investment-securities losses, primarily from fair-value adjustments on equity securities, adding another drag outside the lending business.

Specialty Finance generated approximately $5.4 billion of insurance-premium financing originations during the quarter. Its leasing operations held $3.1 billion of capital leases at September’s close. The business spanned premium financing, equipment financing and receivables financing, giving Wintrust lending activities beyond its community banks’ commercial and property portfolios.

Wealth Management produced $41.0 million of quarterly revenue and ended September with approximately $51.5 billion of assets under administration. The company attributed higher trust and asset-management fees to increased assets under management. It also completed the purchase of a guardianship services business during September; that business had approximately $1.2 billion of assets under management.

Non-interest expense reached $405.7 million, against $397.5 million in the second quarter. FDIC insurance expense totaled $12.1 million, with the company attributing the increase primarily to the prior quarter’s $5.2 million special-assessment reversal. Lower payroll taxes and deferred compensation reduced salary and benefit costs, while community sponsorships and media commitments contributed to marketing spending.

Credit losses broke their improving direction. The annualized net charge-off rate reached 15 bps of average loans, after 10 bps in the second quarter and 14 bps in the first. Non-performing loans stood at $176.9 million. The company recorded a $25.9 million provision and said it reflected portfolio growth, stable credit quality and a mostly stable macroeconomic forecast.

The next test was whether balance-sheet growth could keep supporting interest income. Wintrust said its commercial and commercial real estate pipelines supported its expectation of continued loan growth in the fourth quarter. Chief Executive Timothy Crane said the company expects balance-sheet growth, expanding net interest income and disciplined expense management to generate positive operating leverage for the year.

Source: Wintrust Financial quarterly earnings releases.