EAGLE FINANCIAL SERVICES INC (EFSI) Risk Factors

Item 1A. Risk Factors

The Company is subject to many risks that could adversely affect its future financial condition and performance and, therefore, the market value of its securities. The risk factors applicable to the Company include, but are not limited to the following:

Credit Risks

The Company’s concentration in loans secured by real estate may increase its credit losses, which would negatively affect our financial results.

At December 31, 2025, loans secured by real estate totaled $1.1 billion and represented 77.4% of the Company’s loan portfolio, net of net deferred loan costs and premiums. If we experience adverse changes in the local real estate market or in the local or national economy, borrowers’ ability to pay these loans may be impaired, which could impact the Company’s financial performance. The Company attempts to limit its exposure to this risk by applying good underwriting practices at origination, evaluating the appraisals used to establish property values, and routinely monitoring the financial condition of borrowers. If the value of real estate serving as collateral for the loan portfolio were to decline materially, a significant part of the loan portfolio could become under-collateralized. If the loans that are secured by real estate become troubled when real estate market conditions are declining or have declined, in the event of foreclosure, the Company may not be able to realize the amount of collateral that was anticipated at the time of originating the loan. In that event, the Company might have to increase the provision for credit losses, which could have a material adverse effect on its operating results and financial condition.

An inadequate allowance for credit losses would reduce our earnings.

Our earnings are significantly affected by our ability to properly originate, underwrite and service loans. We maintain an allowance for credit losses on loans based upon many factors, including the following:

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actual loan loss history;

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nature, terms, and volume of the loan portfolio;

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the amount and trends of problems loans and non-performing loans;

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the effect of changes in the local real estate market on collateral values;

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the legal and regulatory environment;

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lending policies and procedures;

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credit administrations and lending staff;

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concentrations of credit;

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the loan review function;

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the effect of current economic conditions on a borrower’s ability to pay; and

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other factors deemed relevant by management.

These determinations are based upon estimates that are inherently subjective, and their accuracy depends on the outcome of future events; therefore, realized losses may differ from current estimates. Changes in economic, operating, and other conditions, including changes in interest rates, which are generally beyond our control, could increase actual loan losses significantly. As a result, actual losses could exceed our current allowance estimate. We cannot provide assurance that our allowance for credit losses is sufficient to cover actual loan losses should such losses differ significantly from the current estimates.

Technology Risks

The Company’s operations may be adversely affected by cybersecurity risks.

In the ordinary course of business, the Company collects and stores sensitive data, including proprietary business information and personally identifiable information of its customers and employees in systems and on networks of the Company and its customers and third-party service providers. The secure processing, maintenance, and use of this information is critical to the Company's operations and business strategy. In addition, the Company relies heavily on communications and information systems to conduct its business. Any failure, interruption, or breach in security or operational integrity of these systems could result in failures or disruptions in the Company's customer relationship management, general ledger, deposit, loan, and other systems. The Company has invested in accepted technologies, and continually reviews processes and practices that are designed to protect its networks, computers, and data from damage or unauthorized access. To date, the Company has not experienced a significant compromise, significant data loss or any material financial losses related to cybersecurity attacks, but the Company’s systems and those of its customers and third-party service providers are under constant threat and it is possible that the Company

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could experience a significant event in the future. Risks and exposures related to cybersecurity attacks are expected to remain high for the foreseeable future due to the rapidly evolving nature and sophistication of these threats, as well as due to the expanding use of Internet banking, mobile banking and other technology-based products and services by the Company and its customers. The continued evolution and increased usage of artificial intelligence technologies may further increase these risks. The Company’s computer systems and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or breached due to employee error, malfeasance, or other disruptions. A breach of any kind could compromise systems and the information stored there could be accessed, damaged, or disclosed. A breach in security or other failure could result in legal claims, regulatory penalties, disruption in operations, increased expenses, loss of customers and business partners, and damage to the Company’s reputation, which could adversely affect its business and financial condition. Furthermore, as cyber threats continue to evolve and increase, the Company may be required to expend significant additional financial and operational resources to modify or enhance its protective measures, or to investigate and remediate any identified information security vulnerabilities.

Failure to keep pace with technological change could adversely affect our business.

The financial services industry is continually undergoing rapid technological change with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services, including artificial intelligence. The effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables financial institutions and other firms to better serve customers and to reduce costs. The pace of these technological changes has increased in the “Fintech” environment, in which industry changing products and services are often introduced and adopted, including innovative ways that customers can make payments, access products, and manage accounts. Our future success depends, in part, upon our ability to address the needs of our customers by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy customer demands, as well as to create additional efficiencies in our operations. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements. We may not be able to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services, which could entail significant time, resources and additional risk to develop or adopt, or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers. Failure to successfully keep pace with technological change affecting the financial services industry could have a material adverse impact on our business and, in turn, our financial condition and results of operations.

Liquidity and Interest Rate Risks

The Company’s success depends upon its ability to manage interest rate risk.

The profitability of the Company depends significantly on its net interest income, which is the difference between the interest earned on loans, securities and other interest-earning assets, and the interest paid on deposits and borrowings. Changes in interest rates will affect the rates earned on securities and loans and rates paid on deposits and other borrowings. These factors include competition, federal economic, monetary and fiscal policies, and general economic conditions.

In addition, changes in interest rates may negatively affect both the returns on and market value of the Company’s investment securities. Interest rate changes can reduce unrealized gains or increase unrealized losses in its portfolio and thereby negatively impact its accumulated other comprehensive income and equity levels. Further, such losses could be realized into earnings should liquidity and/or business strategy necessitate the sales of securities in a loss position. Additionally, actual investment income and cash flows from investment securities that carry prepayment risk, such as mortgage-backed securities and callable securities, may materially differ from those anticipated at the time of investment or subsequently as a result of changes in interest rates and market conditions. These occurrences could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s net interest income or our results of operations.

Inflation can have an adverse impact on our business and on our customers.

The future rate of inflation and other economic factors remain uncertain, and the Federal Reserve may decrease or increase interest rates slower or faster than anticipated. If inflation increases and interest rates rise, the value of our investment securities, particularly those with longer maturities, will decrease, although this effect is less pronounced for floating rate instruments. Prolonged periods of inflation also may impact our profitability by negatively impacting our costs and expenses, including elevated funding costs and expenses related to talent acquisition and retention, and negatively impacting the demand for our products and services. Moreover, our customers are also affected by inflation and the rising costs of goods and services used in their households and businesses, which could have a negative impact on their ability to repay their loans.

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The Company relies substantially on deposits obtained from customers in its target markets to provide liquidity and support growth.

The Company requires sufficient liquidity to fund asset growth, meet customer loan requests, customer deposit maturities and withdrawals, make payments on its debt obligations as they come due and other cash commitments. The Company’s business strategy is based primarily on access to funding from local customer deposits. Deposit levels may be affected by a number of factors, including interest rates paid by competitors, general interest rate levels, returns available to customers on alternative investments, changes in the liquidity needs of our depositors and general economic conditions that affect savings levels and the amount of liquidity in the economy, including government stimulus efforts in response to economic crises. If market interest rates rise or our competitors raise the rates they pay on deposits, the Company’s funding costs may increase, either because we raise our rates to avoid losing deposits or because we lose deposits and must rely on more expensive sources of funding. Either of these factors could reduce the Company’s net interest margin and net interest income and could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and cash flows from operations.

Further, if local customer deposits are not sufficient to fund the Company’s normal operations and growth, we may rely on secondary sources of liquidity, such as borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta ("FHLB"), and federal funds lines of credit with larger institutions; however, there can be no assurance that these arrangements will be available to us when needed on favorable terms, or at all, or that they will be sufficient to meet future liquidity needs. For example, the Company’s ability to access borrowings from the FHLB will be dependent upon whether and the extent to which we can provide collateral to secure FHLB borrowings. In addition, the availability of these funding sources is highly dependent upon the perception of the liquidity and creditworthiness of the financial institution, and such perception can change quickly in response to market conditions or circumstances unique to a particular company. The Company also may need to raise funds through the issuance of shares of our debt or equity securities, or the sale of investment securities or loans, as additional sources of liquidity. If the Company is unable to access funding sufficient to support our business operations and growth strategies or are unable to access such funding on attractive terms, the Company may not be able to implement our business strategies or satisfy our obligations.

The Company depends on the Bank for cash flow, and the Bank’s ability to make cash distributions is restricted, which could impact the Company’s ability to satisfy its obligations.

The Company is a bank holding company with no material activities other than activities incidental to holding the common stock of the Bank. The Company’s principal source of funds to pay distributions on its common stock and service any of its obligations, other than further issuances of securities, is dividends received from the Bank. The holding company, Eagle Financial Services, Inc., is a legal entity separate and distinct from the Bank. Furthermore, the Bank is not obligated to pay dividends to the Company, and any dividends paid to the Company would depend on the earnings or financial condition of the Bank, various business considerations, and applicable law and regulation. As is generally the case for banking institutions, the profitability of the Bank is subject to the fluctuating cost and availability of money, changes in interest rates, and economic conditions in general. In addition, various federal statutes and regulations limit the amount of dividends that the Bank may pay to the Company without regulatory approval.

Market Risks

The Company’s success depends upon its ability to compete effectively in the banking industry.

The Company’s banking subsidiary faces competition from banks and other financial institutions, including savings and loan associations, savings banks, finance companies and credit unions for deposits, loans and other financial services in our market area. Certain divisions within the banking subsidiary face competition from wealth management and investment brokerage firms. A number of these banks and other financial institutions are significantly larger and have substantially greater access to capital and other resources, as well as larger lending limits and branch systems, and offer a wider array of banking services. In addition, the Company faces competition from market place lenders and other financial technology firms, which may provide competitive services quickly and in innovative ways and may have fewer regulatory constraints and lower cost structures. The financial services industry continues to undergo rapid technological change with introductions of new technologies and services, including new ways that customers can make payments or manage their accounts, including through use of stablecoins and other forms of cryptocurrency, tokens, and other digital assets or alternative payment systems.This competition may reduce or limit our margins and our market share and may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

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The Company could be adversely affected by economic conditions in its market area.

The Company’s branches are located in the counties of Clarke, Frederick, Fauquier, Loudoun, and Fairfax the towns of Purcellville, Leesburg and Ashburn, and the City of Winchester. The Company also operates loan production offices in the counties of Fairfax (Virginia) and Frederick (Maryland). Because our lending is concentrated in these markets, we will be affected by the general economic conditions in these areas. Changes in the economy may influence the growth rate of our loans and deposits, the quality of the loan portfolio and loan and deposit pricing. Over the past several years, the growth in economic activity and in the demand for goods and services, coupled with labor shortages, supply chain disruptions and other factors, has contributed to rising inflationary pressures, the Federal Reserve’s responsive interest rate hikes, and the risk of recession. A decline in general economic conditions caused by inflation, recession, unemployment or other factors beyond our control would impact the demand for banking products and services generally, which could negatively affect our financial condition and performance.

The soundness of other financial institutions could adversely affect us.

Our ability to engage in routine funding transactions could be adversely affected by the actions and commercial soundness of other financial institutions. Financial services institutions are interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, counterparty or other relationships. We have exposure to many different industries and counterparties, and we routinely execute transactions with counterparties in the financial industry. As a result, defaults by, or even rumors or questions about, one or more financial services institutions, or the financial services industry generally, have led to market-wide liquidity problems and could lead to losses or defaults by us or by other institutions. If such events were to occur again in the future and result in the receivership of financial institutions, there is no guarantee that the systemic risk exception would be invoked to allow the FDIC to complete its resolution of such financial institutions in a manner that fully protects depositors or counterparties. Many of these transactions expose us to credit risk in the event of default of our counterparty or client. In addition, our credit risk may be exacerbated when the collateral held by us cannot be realized upon or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount of the financial instrument exposure due us. There is no assurance that any such losses would not materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

Operational Risks

Our exposure to operational risk may adversely affect our business.

We are exposed to many types of operational risk, including reputational risk, legal and compliance risk, the risk of fraud or theft by employees or outsiders, unauthorized transactions by employees or operational errors, including clerical or record-keeping errors or those resulting from faulty or disabled computer or telecommunications systems.

Reputational risk, or the risk to our earnings and capital from negative public opinion, could result from our actual alleged conduct in any number of activities, including lending practices, corporate governance, regulatory compliance or the occurrence of any of the events or instances mentioned below, or from actions taken by government regulators or community organizations in response to that conduct. Negative public opinion could also result from adverse news or publicity that impairs the reputation of the financial services industry generally.

Further, if any of our financial, accounting, or other data processing systems fail or have other significant shortcomings, we could be adversely affected. We depend on internal systems and outsourced technology to support these data storage and processing operations. Our inability to use or access these information systems at critical points in time could unfavorably impact the timeliness and efficiency of our business operations. We could be adversely affected if one of our employees causes a significant operational break-down or failure, either as a result of human error or where an individual purposefully sabotages or fraudulently manipulates our operations or systems. We are also at risk of the impact of natural disasters, terrorism and international hostilities on our systems or for the effects of outages or other failures involving power or communications systems operated by others.

If any of the foregoing risks materialize, it could have a material adverse affect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Company may not be able to successfully manage its growth or implement its growth strategy, which may adversely affect results of operations and financial condition.

A key component of the Company’s business strategy is to continue to grow and expand. The Company’s ability to grow and expand depends upon its ability to open new branch locations, attract new deposits to the existing and new branch locations, and identify attractive loan and investment opportunities. The Company may not be able to implement its growth

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strategy if it is unable to identify attractive markets or branch locations. Once identified, successfully managing growth will depend on integrating the new branch locations while maintaining adequate capital, cost controls and asset quality. As this growth strategy is implemented, the Company will incur construction costs and increased personnel, occupancy and other operating expenses. Because these costs are incurred before new deposits and loans are generated, adding new branch locations will initially decrease earnings, despite efficient execution of this strategy. In addition, the Company could experience difficulties expanding into new markets or product lines. The Company’s lack of history and familiarity with those markets, clients and lines of business may lead to unexpected challenges or difficulties that inhibit its success and adversely affect the Company’s results of operations.

Severe weather, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, geopolitical instability, public health issues, and other external events could significantly impact the Company's business.

Severe weather, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, geopolitical instability, public health issues, and other adverse external events could have a significant impact on the Company's ability to conduct business. In addition, such events could affect the stability of the Company’s deposit base, cause economic or market uncertainty, negatively impact consumer confidence, impair the ability of borrowers to repay outstanding loans, impair the value of collateral securing loans, cause significant property damage, result in loss of revenue, and/or cause the Company to incur additional expenses. The Company is also at risk of the impact of natural disasters, terrorism, and international hostilities on its systems and from the effects of cyberattacks, outages or other failures involving power or communications systems operated by others, which may give rise to disruption of service to customers and to financial loss or liability. The occurrence of any such events in the future and the economic impact from such events could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on its financial condition and results of operations.

The Company relies heavily on its senior management team and the unexpected loss of key officers could adversely affect operations.

The Company believes that its growth and success depends heavily upon the skills of its senior management team. The Company also depends on the experience of its subsidiary’s officers and on their relationships with the customers they serve. The loss of one or more of these officers could disrupt the Company’s operations and impair its ability to implement its business strategy, which could adversely affect the Company’s financial condition and performance.

Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Risks

The Company operates in a highly regulated industry, and the laws and regulations that govern the Company’s operations, including changes in them or the Company’s failure to comply with them, and regulatory actions implementing such laws and regulations, may adversely affect the Company.

The Company is subject to extensive regulation and supervision that govern almost all aspects of its operations. These laws and regulations are generally intended to benefit consumers, borrowers and depositors, but not investors. Our success depends on our ability to maintain compliance with existing and new laws and regulations. Changes to laws, regulations, or regulatory policies, or supervisory guidance, including changes in interpretation or implementation of laws, regulations, policies, or supervisory guidance, could affect the Company in substantial and unpredictable ways. Regulatory responses in connection with unforeseen stress events, including failures of banks and other financial institutions, often lead to increased regulatory scrutiny and heightened supervisory expectations and could adversely impact the Company’s business, financial condition, and results of operations, or alter or disrupt the Company’s planned future strategies and actions. Compliance with laws and regulations, and regulatory actions implementing such laws and regulations, can be difficult and costly, and changes to laws and regulations could make compliance more difficult or expensive or otherwise adversely affect the Company’s business and financial condition.

The Company expects the Trump administration will implement a regulatory agenda that could reduce and streamline certain prudential and regulatory requirements applicable to banking organizations at a federal level. At this time, however, it is unclear what the impacts to the rulemaking, supervision, examination, and enforcement priorities of the federal banking agencies will be, what laws, regulations, and policies may change, and whether future changes or uncertainty surrounding future changes will adversely affect the Company’s operating environment, and therefore its business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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The Bank is subject to stringent capital and liquidity requirements as a result of the Basel III regulatory capital reforms and the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Bank is subject to capital adequacy guidelines and other regulatory requirements specifying minimum amounts and types of capital which it must maintain. From time to time, regulators implement changes to these regulatory capital adequacy guidelines. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the federal banking agencies have established stricter capital requirements and leverage limits for banks and bank holding companies that are based on the Basel III regulatory capital reforms. The Basel III Capital Rules require banking organizations to maintain significantly more capital and adopt more demanding regulatory capital risk weightings and calculations. While the Economic Growth Act requires that federal banking regulators establish a simplified leverage capital framework for smaller banks, these more stringent capital requirements could, among other things, limit banking operations and activities, and growth of loan portfolios, in order to focus on retention of earnings to improve capital levels. The Bank believes that it maintains sufficient levels of Tier 1 and Common Equity Tier 1 capital to comply with the Basel III Final rules. However, if the Bank fails to meet these minimum capital guidelines and/or other regulatory requirements, the Bank could be subject to regulatory restrictions, including limitations on paying dividends to the holding company for shareholder dividends and share repurchases and paying discretionary bonuses, or experience other adverse consequences that could cause its financial condition to be materially and adversely affected.

Changes in accounting standards could impact reported earnings and capital.

The authorities that promulgate accounting standards, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”), the SEC, and other regulatory authorities, periodically change the financial accounting and reporting standards that govern the preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements. These changes are difficult to predict and can materially impact how the Company records and reports its financial condition and results of operations. In some cases, the Company could be required to apply a new or revised standard retroactively, resulting in the restatement of financial statements for prior periods. Such changes could also impact the capital levels of the Bank, or require the Company to incur additional personnel or technology costs.

Evolving expectations from customers, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders with respect to environmental, social and governance ("ESG") practices may impose additional costs on the Company or expose it to new or additional risks.

Companies are facing increasing scrutiny from customers, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders related to corporate social responsibility, environmental concerns, governance and related practices. Failure to act responsibly or in line with regulatory and stakeholder expectations in a number of areas, such as climate risk, human capital and hiring practices, human rights, support for local communities, and corporate governance and transparency, could negatively impact the Company’s reputation, ability to do business with certain partners, and stock price. The rules, regulations and expectations of regulators, customers, investors, associates, and other stakeholders with respect to these matters continue to evolve, which could result in increases to the Company’s overall operational costs and increased management time and attention. Further, as these rules, regulations and expectations continue to evolve, the Company’s stakeholders may have differing views on related matters. Scrutiny, or the perception that the Company’s efforts are too ambitious or misdirected, could expose the Company to the risk of investigations, litigation and other proceedings or reputational harm. If the Company is unable to meet its social- or environmentally-related goals or evolving and divergent stakeholder expectations and industry standards, it could negatively impact the value of the Company’s brand, the cost of its operations and/or relationships with customers, investors or employees, any of which could adversely affect its business and results.

Climate change and related legislative and regulatory initiatives may result in operational changes and expenditures that could significantly impact the Company’s business.

The current and anticipated effects of climate change continue to raise concerns for the state of the global environment. As a result, the Company and its customers will need to respond to new laws and regulations as well as consumer and business preferences resulting from climate change concerns. While the Trump administration has shifted federal policy to reduce the emphasis on climate change initiatives and environmental regulations, state and local regulations or guidance relating to climate change, as well as changes in consumers’ and businesses’ behaviors and business preferences, could affect our business operations. Among other things, the Company and its customers could face cost increases, compliance-related risks, asset value reductions and operating process changes.

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The lack of empirical data surrounding the credit and other financial risks posed by climate change render it impossible to predict how specifically climate change may impact the Company’s financial condition and results of operations; however, the physical effects of climate change may also directly impact the Company. Specifically, unpredictable and more frequent weather disasters may adversely impact the value of real property securing the loans in the Bank’s loan portfolio. Additionally, if insurance obtained by borrowers is insufficient to cover any losses sustained to the collateral, or if insurance coverage is otherwise unavailable to borrowers, the collateral securing loans may be negatively impacted by climate change, which could impact the Company’s financial condition and results of operations. Further, the effects of climate change may negatively impact regional and local economic activity, which could lead to an adverse effect on customers and impact the communities in which the Company operates. Overall, climate change, its effects and the resulting, unknown impact could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Relating to an Investment in Our Common Stock

There can be no assurances concerning continuing dividend payments.

Our common stockholders are only entitled to receive the dividends declared by our Board of Directors out of funds legally available for such payments. Although we have historically paid quarterly dividends on our common stock, there can be no assurances that we will be able to continue to pay regular quarterly dividends or an annual stock dividend or that any dividends we do declare will be in any particular amount. The primary source of money to pay our cash dividends comes from dividends paid to the Company by the Bank. The Bank’s ability to pay dividends to the Company is subject to, among other things, its earnings, financial condition and applicable regulations, which in some instances limit the amount that may be paid as dividends. In addition, the Company and the Bank are required to maintain a capital conservation buffer of 2.5% of Common Equity Tier 1 Capital on top of minimum risk-weighted asset ratios to pay dividends without additional restrictions. Any change in the level of dividends or the suspension of the payment thereof could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

There is a limited trading market for our common shares, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price you paid for them.

Although our common shares are listed for trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market, the trading volume in our common shares may be lower than other larger financial institutions or publicly traded companies. A public trading market having the desired characteristics of depth, liquidity and orderliness depends on the presence in the market of willing buyers and sellers of our common shares at any given time. This presence depends on the individual decisions of investors and general economic and market conditions over which we have no control. We cannot assure you that volume of trading in our common shares will increase in the future.

The market price of our common stock may be volatile, and we may not be able to meet investor or analyst expectations. You may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price you paid and may lose part or all of your investment as a result.

Our stock price can fluctuate widely. On February 10, 2025, the Company completed a public offering increasing its common shares outstanding by 1,796,875 shares, or 50.2%, at a price of $32.00.

Volatility in the market price of our common stock may negatively impact the price at which our common stock may be sold and may also negatively impact the timing of any sale. The market price of our common stock may continue to fluctuate widely in response to a variety of factors including the risk factors described herein and, among other things:

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actual or anticipated variations in quarterly or annual operating results, financial conditions, or credit quality;

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changes in business or economic conditions;

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changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations, or principles;

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prevailing interest rates;

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changes in recommendations or research reports about us or the financial services industry in general published by securities analysts;

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the failure of securities analysts to cover, or to continue to cover, us;

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changes in financial estimates or publication of research reports and recommendations by financial analysts or actions taken by rating agencies with respect to us or other financial institutions;

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news reports relating to trends, concerns, and other issues in the financial services industry;

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reports related to the impact of natural or man-made disasters in our market;

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perceptions in the marketplace regarding us and our competitors;

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sudden increases in the demand for our common stock, including as a result of any "short squeezes";

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significant acquisitions or business combinations, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, or capital commitments by or involving us or our competitors;

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additional investments from third parties;

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additions or departures of key personnel;

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future sales or issuance of additional shares of our common stock;

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fluctuations in the market price of our competitors' common stock and the operating results of our competitors;

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changes or proposed changes in laws or regulations, or differing interpretations thereof, affecting our business, or enforcement of these laws or regulations;

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new technology used, or services offered, by competitors;

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additional investments from third parties; or

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geopolitical conditions such as acts or threats of terrorism, pandemics, or military conflicts.

In particular, the realization of any of the risks described in this section under Item IA. Risk Factors, could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and cause the value of your investment to decline. In addition, the stock market in general has experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock over the short, medium or long term, regardless of our actual performance.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, or change their recommendations regarding our common stock or if our operating results do not meet their expectations, the market price of our common stock and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades common stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, or our operating results do not meet their expectations, either absolutely or relative to our competitors, the market price of our common stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports about us regularly, (1) we would lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the market price of our common stock or trading volume to decline and (2) demand for our common stock could decrease, which could cause the market price of our common stock and trading volume to decline. If we fail to meet the expectation of analysts for our operating results, the market price of our common stock would likely decline.

Virginia law and the provisions of the Company’s articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have an anti-takeover effect, and there are substantial regulatory limitations on changes of control of bank holding companies.

Certain provisions of the Company’s articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, as well as Virginia law, and the Bank Holding Company Act, and Change in Bank Control Act, could delay or prevent a change of control that you may favor. The Company’s articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include certain provisions that could delay a takeover or change in control of the Company, including: a staggered board of directors, the exclusive right of the Company’s board to fill any director vacancy; and advance notice requirements for shareholder proposals and director nominations.

Virginia law contains two antitakeover statutes: the Affiliated Transactions Statute and the Control Share Acquisitions Statute, each of which could make it more difficult for another party to acquire the Company without the approval of the Company’s board of directors. These provisions are expected to discourage specific types of coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids as well as to encourage persons seeking to acquire control to first negotiate with the Company. Although these provisions may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control, the Company believes that the benefits of increased protection through the potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure the Company outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging these proposals because, among other things, negotiation of such proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.