FIRST FINANCIAL BANKSHARES INC (FFIN)

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Forward-Looking Statements

This Form 10-Q contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. When used in this Form 10-Q, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “predict,” “project,” “could,” “may,” or “would” and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to our management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including, but not limited, to those discussed in Part I, Item 1A of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, under the heading “Risk Factors,” and the following:

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general economic conditions, including the impact of government shutdowns, our local, state and national real estate markets, and employment trends;

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the effects of and changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve Board”);

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effect of severe weather conditions, including hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and droughts;

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volatility and disruption in national and international financial and commodity markets;

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government intervention in the U.S. financial system including the effects of recent legislative, tax, accounting, tariffs, and regulatory actions and reforms, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the capital ratios of Basel III as adopted by the federal banking authorities and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ("OBBBA");

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political or social unrest and economic instability;

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the ability of the federal government to address the national economy;

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changes in our competitive environment from other financial institutions and financial service providers;

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the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the regulatory agencies, as well as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and other accounting standard setters;

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effect of a pandemic, epidemic, or highly contagious disease, on our Company, the communities where we have our branches, the state of Texas and the United States, related to the economy and overall financial stability, including disruptions to supply channels and labor availability;

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government and regulatory responses to a pandemic, epidemic, or highly contagious disease;

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the effect of changes in laws and regulations (including laws and regulations concerning taxes, banking, securities and insurance) with which we and our subsidiaries must comply;

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the costs, effects and results of regulatory examinations, investigations or reviews and the ability to obtain required regulatory approvals;

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changes in the demand for loans, including loans originated for sale in the secondary market;

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fluctuations in the value of collateral securing our loan portfolio and in the level of the allowance for credit losses;

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the accuracy of our estimates of future credit losses;

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the accuracy of our estimates and assumptions regarding the performance of our securities portfolio, including securities with a current unrealized loss;

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inflation, interest rate, market and monetary fluctuations;

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soundness of other financial institutions with which we have transactions;

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changes in consumer spending, borrowing and savings habits;

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changes in commodity prices (e.g., oil and gas, cattle, and wind energy);

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our ability to attract deposits, maintain and/or increase market share;

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changes in our liquidity position, including a result of a reduction in the amount of sources of liquidity we currently have;

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fluctuations in the market value and liquidity of the investment securities we have classified as available-for-sale ("AFS"), including the effects of changes in market interest rates;

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changes in the reliability of our vendors, internal control system or information systems;

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cyber-attacks on our technology information systems, including fraud from our customers and external third-party vendors;

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our ability to attract and retain qualified employees;

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acquisitions and integration of acquired businesses;

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the possible impairment of goodwill and other intangibles associated with our acquisitions;

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consequences of continued bank mergers and acquisitions in our market area, resulting in fewer but much larger and stronger competitors;

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expansion of operations, including branch openings, new product offerings and expansion into new markets;

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changes in our compensation and benefit plans;

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acts of God or of war or terrorism;

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the impact of changes to the global climate and its effect on our operations and customers;

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potential risk of environmental liability associated with lending activities;

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the rise of Artificial Intelligence as a commonly used resource; and

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our success at managing the risk involved in the foregoing items.

In addition, financial markets and global supply chains may continue to be adversely affected by the current or anticipated impact of military conflict, including the current Ukraine and Middle East conflicts and other world events, terrorism or other geopolitical events.

Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of our management with respect to future events and are subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategies and liquidity. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this paragraph. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise (except as required by law).

Introduction

As a financial holding company, we generate most of our revenue from interest on loans and investments, trust fees, gain on sale of mortgage loans and service charges and fees on deposit accounts. Our primary source of funding for our loans and investments are deposits held by our bank subsidiary, First Financial Bank. Our largest expenses are interest on deposits and salaries and related employee benefits. We measure our performance by calculating our return on average assets, return on average equity, regulatory capital ratios, net interest margin and efficiency ratio, which is calculated by dividing noninterest expense by the sum of net interest income on a tax equivalent basis and noninterest income.

The following discussion and analysis of operations and financial condition should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying footnotes included in Item 1 of this Form 10-Q as well as those included in the Company’s 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Critical Accounting Policies

We prepare consolidated financial statements based on generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and customary practices in the banking industry. These policies, in certain areas, require us to make significant estimates and assumptions.

We deem a policy critical if (i) the accounting estimate requires us to make assumptions about matters that are highly uncertain at the time we make the accounting estimate; and (ii) different estimates that reasonably could have been used in the current period, or changes in the accounting estimate that are reasonably likely to occur from period to period, would have a material impact on the financial statements.

We deem our most critical accounting policies to be (i) our allowance for credit losses and our provision for credit losses and (ii) our valuation of financial instruments. We have other significant accounting policies and continue to evaluate the materiality of their impact on our consolidated financial statements, but we believe these other policies either do not generally require us to make estimates and judgments that are difficult or subjective, or it is less likely they would have a material impact on our reported results for a given period. A discussion of (i) our allowance for credit losses and our provision for credit losses and (ii) our valuation of financial instruments is included in Notes 1, 3, and 9 to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

It is difficult to estimate how potential changes in any one economic factor or input might affect the overall allowance because a wide variety of factors and inputs are considered in estimating the ACL and changes in those factors and inputs considered may not occur at the same rate and may not be consistent across all product types. Additionally, changes in factors and inputs may be directionally inconsistent, such that improvement in one factor may offset deterioration in others. A large driver to the ACL is the overall credit quality of the underlying credits. Deterioration or improvement in credit quality could have a significant impact on the overall level of ACL.

Stock Repurchase

On July 22, 2025, the Company's Board of Directors extended the authorization to repurchase up to 5 million common shares through July 31, 2026.

The prior authorization had been in place since July 27, 2021. The stock repurchase plan authorizes management to repurchase and retire the stock at such time as repurchases and retirements are considered beneficial to the Company and stockholders. Any repurchase of stock will be made through

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the open market, block trades, or in privately negotiated transactions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Under the repurchase plan, there is no minimum number of shares that the Company is required to repurchase. There have been no repurchases during 2025 or through March 31, 2026.

Results of Operations

Performance Summary. Net earnings for the first quarter of 2026 were $71.54 million, an increase of 16.62% when compared to earnings of $61.35 million for the first quarter of 2025. Diluted earnings per share was $0.50 for the first quarter of 2026 and $0.43 for the first quarter of 2025.

The return on average assets was 1.89% for the first quarter of 2026, as compared to 1.78% for the first quarter of 2025. The return on average equity was 14.83% for the first quarter of 2026, as compared to 15.12% for the first quarter of 2025.

Net Interest Income. Net interest income is the difference between interest income on earning assets and interest expense on liabilities incurred to fund those assets. Our earning assets consist primarily of loans and investment securities. Our liabilities to fund those assets consist primarily of noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing deposits.

Tax-equivalent net interest income was $138.58 million for the first quarter of 2026, as compared to $121.49 million for the same period last year. The increase in tax equivalent net interest income for the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same quarter in 2025 was largely attributable to the increases in average loans, the increase in average balance and the rate of return on taxable and tax-exempt investment securities, and a $1.26 million reversal of interest expense. Average earning assets were $14.54 billion for the first quarter of 2026, as compared to $13.16 billion during the first quarter of 2025. The increase of $1.38 billion in average earning assets for the first quarter of 2026 when comp

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to those listed in “Item 1A – Risk Factors” and in the “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” notice on page 1.

Introduction

As a financial holding company, we generate most of our revenue from interest on loans and investments, trust fees, gain on sale of mortgage loans and service charges and fees on deposit accounts. Our primary source of funding for our loans and investments are deposits held by our bank subsidiary, First Financial Bank. Our largest expenses are salaries and related employee benefits. We measure our performance by calculating our return on average assets, return on average equity, regulatory capital ratios, net interest margin and efficiency ratio, which is calculated by dividing noninterest expense by the sum of net interest income on a tax equivalent basis and noninterest income.

The following discussion and analysis of the major elements of our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, and consolidated statements of earnings for the years 2023 through 2025 should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements, accompanying notes, and selected financial data presented elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

Critical Accounting Policies

We prepare consolidated financial statements based on generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and customary practices in the banking industry. These policies, in certain areas, require us to make significant estimates and assumptions.

We deem a policy critical if (1) the accounting estimate required us to make assumptions about matters that are highly uncertain at the time we make the accounting estimate; and (2) different estimates that reasonably could have been used in the current period, or changes in the accounting estimate that are reasonably likely to occur from period to period, would have a material impact on the financial statements.

We deem our most critical accounting policies to be (1) our allowance for credit losses (“ACL”) and our provision for credit losses and (2) our valuation of financial instruments. We have other significant accounting policies and continue to evaluate the materiality of their impact on our consolidated financial statements, but we believe these other policies either do not generally require us to make estimates and judgments that are difficult or subjective, or it is less likely they would have a material impact on our reported results for a given period. A discussion of (1) our allowance for credit losses and our provision for credit losses and (2) our valuation of financial instruments is included in Notes 1 and 10, respectively, to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

It is difficult to estimate how potential changes in any one economic factor or input might affect the overall allowance because a wide variety of factors and inputs are considered in estimating the ACL and changes in those factors and inputs considered may not occur at the same rate and may not be consistent across all product types. Additionally, changes in factors and inputs may be directionally inconsistent, such that improvement in one factor may offset deterioration in others. A large driver to the ACL is the overall credit quality of the underlying credits. Deterioration or improvement in credit quality could have a significant impact on the overall level of ACL.

Stock Repurchase

On July 22, 2025, the Company’s Board of Directors extended the authorization to repurchase up to 5,000,000 common shares through July 31, 2026. The prior authorization had been in place since July 27, 2021. The stock repurchase plan authorizes management to repurchase and retire the stock at such time as repurchases and retirements are considered beneficial to the Company and stockholders. Any repurchase of stock will be made through the open market, block trades, or in privately negotiated transactions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Under the repurchase plan, there is no minimum number of shares that the Company is required to repurchase. There have been no repurchases during 2024 or 2025.

Other Recently Issued and Effective Authoritative Accounting Guidance

ASU 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures.” ASU 2023-09 requires entities to disclose more detailed information in their reconciliation of their statutory tax rate to their effective tax rate. Public business entities (PBEs) are required to provide this incremental detail in a numerical, tabular format. The ASU also requires entities to disclose more detailed information about income taxes paid, including by jurisdiction; pretax income (or loss) from continuing operations; and income tax expense (or benefit). ASU 2023-09 became effective for our annual financial statements in 2025 and did not have a significant effect on the financial statements.

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ASU 2024-03, “Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses.” ASU 2024-03 requires new financial statement disclosures in tabular format, disaggregating information about prescribed categories underlying any relevant income statement expense caption. The prescribed categories include, among other things, employee compensation, depreciation, and intangible asset amortization. Additionally, entities must disclose the total amount of selling expenses and, in annual reporting periods, an entity’s definition of selling expenses. ASU 2024-03 will be effective, on a prospective basis, for our 2027 annual report and interim periods thereafter. The Company is evaluating the impact of this ASU and does not believe it will have a significant impact on the Company's financial statements.

ASU 2025-08, "Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Purchased Loans.” ASU 2025-08 amends the guidance on the accounting for certain purchased loans. The new guidance makes significant changes to the accounting for certain acquired seasoned loans subject to the current expected credit loss model. The amendments in ASU 2025-08 apply prospectively and will be effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2027, with early adoption permitted, and is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s financial statements.

ASU 2025-11, "Interim Reporting (Topic 270): Narrow-Scope Improvements.” ASU 2025-11 is intended to provide clarity about the current interim reporting requirements, provides a list of the interim disclosures required by all other Codification topics and establishes a disclosure principle that requires entities to disclose events since the end of the last annual reporting period that have a material impact on the entity. ASC 2025-11 will be effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2028, with early adoption permitted, and is not expected to have a significant impact on the Company’s financial statements.

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Selected Financial Data

The selected financial data presented below as of and for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021, have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. The data set forth below may not be fully comparable from period to period (see Notes 1 and 3 to the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further information). The results of operations presented below are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations that may be achieved in the future.

(1)
Calculated by dividing at period-end, shareholders’ equity (before accumulated other comprehensive earnings/loss) less intangible assets by fourth quarter average assets less intangible assets.

(2)
Calculated by dividing at period-end, shareholders’ equity (before accumulated other comprehensive earnings/loss) less intangible assets by risk-adjusted assets.

(3)
Calculated by dividing at period-end, shareholders’ equity (before accumulated other comprehensive earnings/loss) less intangible assets by risk-adjusted assets.

(4)
Calculated by dividing at period-end, shareholders’ equity (before accumulated other comprehensive earnings/loss) less intangible assets plus allowance for loan losses to the extent allowed under regulatory guidelines by risk-adjusted assets.

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Results of Operations

Performance Summary. Net earnings for 2025 were $253.58 million compared to net earnings of $223.51 million for 2024, reflecting an increase of $30.07 million, or 13.45%. The increase in earnings for 2025 over 2024 was primarily attributable to the overall growth in net interest income driven by strong growth in the Company's interest earning assets. Additionally, with the strong growth in deposits in 2025 combined with the continued proceeds resulting from maturities and paydowns of the Company's lower yielding investment portfolio, we were able to redeploy those funds into higher-yielding organic loans and investments during 2025. Furthermore, trust fee income increased $4.41 million, or 9.30%, when compared to 2024.

Net earnings for 2024 were $223.51 million compared to $198.98 million for 2023, reflecting an increase of $24.53 million, or 12.33%. The increase in earnings for 2024 over 2023 was primarily attributable to the overall growth in net interest income from the growth in earning assets. Additionally, trust fee income increased $6.99 million when compared to 2023 and there was no loss on sales of AFS securities in 2024 when compared to a $7.12 million loss in 2023. The proceeds from sales of securities during 2023 were used to fund higher-yielding organic loan growth during 2024.

On a diluted net earnings per share basis, net earnings were $1.77 for 2025, as compared to $1.56 for 2024 and $1.39 for 2023. The return on average assets was 1.76% for 2025, as compared to 1.68% for 2024 and 1.55% for 2023. The return on average equity was 14.59% for 2025, as compared to 14.51% for 2024 and to 14.99% for 2023.

Net Interest Income. Net interest income is the difference between interest income on earning assets and interest expense on liabilities incurred to fund those assets. Our earning assets consist primarily of loans and investment securities. Our liabilities to fund those assets consist primarily of noninterest-bearing and interest-bearing deposits.

Tax-equivalent net interest income was $513.63 million in 2025, as compared to $437.19 million in 2024, and $395.36 million in 2023. Average earning assets were $13.55 billion in 2025, as compared to $12.48 billion in 2024 and $12.00 billion in 2023. The increase in tax-equivalent net interest income in 2025 compared to 2024 was largely attributable to the change in the mix of interest earning assets primarily derived from continued loan growth combined with increase in volume and yield on the Company's taxable and tax-exempt securities. The increase of $1.06 billion in average earning assets in 2025 when compared to 2024 was primarily a result of an increase in loans of $607.02 million, an increase in taxable securities of $265.67 million, and an increase in tax-exempt securities of $109.59 million. The increase in tax-equivalent net interest income in 2024 compared to 2023 was largely attributable to the change in the mix of interest earning assets primarily derived from an increase in average loans offset by a decrease in taxable and tax-exempt securities. Additionally, the rates received on loans continued to increase along with the rates paid on deposits. The increase of $483.34 million in average earning assets in 2024 when compared to 2023 was primarily a result of an increase in loans of $732.00 million, offset by a decrease in taxable securities of $211.16 million and a decrease in tax-exempt securities of $176.36 million. Average interest-bearing liabilities were $9.18 billion in 2025, as compared to $8.39 billion in 2024 and $7.84 billion in 2023. The yield on earning assets increased 16 basis points in 2025 when compared to 2024 while the rate paid on interest-bearing liabilities decreased 21 basis points. The yield on earning assets increased 62 basis points in 2024 when compared to 2023 while the rate paid on interest-bearing liabilities increased 57 basis points.

The table below allocates the change in tax-equivalent net interest income between the amount of change attributable to volume and to rate.

Changes in Interest Income and Interest Expense (in thousands):

(1)
Computed on a tax-equivalent basis assuming a marginal tax rate of 21%.

(2)
Nonaccrual loans are included in loans.

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The net interest margin for 2025 was 3.79% which was an increase of 29 basis points from 2024. The net interest margin in 2024 was 3.50%, an increase of 21 basis points from 2023. The net interest margin has expanded during the past year primarily due to (i) a shift in asset mix from lower yielding investment securities to higher yielding loans and investment securities, (ii) strong growth in deposits that has enabled the Company to deploy those funds into higher yielding loan and securities portfolio and (iii) increased loan yields due to new and renewing loans and variable rate loans repricing higher. The Federal Reserve began increasing interest rates in March 2022 and continuing into 2023 to a peak of 5.25% to 5.50%. Most recently, the Federal Reserve decreased interest rates 100 basis points in 2024, and 25 basis points in September, October, and December 2025, respectively, resulting in a target range of 3.50% to 3.75% at December 31, 2025.

There are $1.52 billion of municipal and related deposits which are indexed to short-term treasury rates which have continued to fluctuate with the changes in the applicable rate index. Average municipal and related deposits totaled $1.58 billion and $1.46 billion for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, with an average rate paid of 3.42% and 3.94%, for the respective years then ended.

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The net interest margin, which measures tax-equivalent net interest income as a percentage of average earning assets, is illustrated in the table below for the years 2023 through 2025.

Average Balances and Average Yields and Rates (in thousands, except percentages):

(1)
Short-term investments are comprised of federal funds sold, interest-bearing deposits in banks and interest- bearing time deposits in banks.

(2)
Average balances include unrealized gains and losses on AFS securities.

(3)
Includes tax-equivalent yield adjustment of approximately $12.74 million, $10.45 million and $11.55 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, using an effective tax rate of 21%.

(4)
Includes nonaccrual loans.

Noninterest Income. Noninterest income for 2025 was $130.72 million compared to $123.99 million in 2024. Notable changes in certain categories of noninterest income included an increase in trust fee income of $4.41 million, or 9.30%, and an increase in mortgage related income of $2.37 million, or 17.95%, compared to 2024. There were no securities sales in 2025 and 2024. Trust revenue increased primarily due to growth in assets under management to $11.94 billion at December 31, 2025 compared to $10.83 billion at December 31, 2024. Mortgage income increased to $15.55 million in 2025 compared to $13.18 million in 2024 due to increased loan origination volume and pricing margins have improved.

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Noninterest income for 2024 was $123.99 million compared to $108.00 million in 2023. Changes in certain categories of noninterest income included (i) no losses on sales of AFS securities in 2024 when compared to $7.12 million losses in 2023, (ii) an increase in Trust fee income of $6.99 million and (iii) an increase in gain on sale and fees of mortgage loans of $1.29 million when compared to 2023. AFS securities totaling $411.13 million were sold during 2023 resulting in a loss on sales of securities of $7.12 million. There were no securities sales in 2024. Trust revenue increased primarily due to growth in assets under management to $10.83 billion at December 31, 2024 compared to $9.78 billion at December 31, 2023, as well as increases in oil and gas related fees. Mortgage income increased to $13.18 million in 2024 compared to $11.89 million in 2023 due to increased loan origination volume.

Noninterest Income (in thousands):

Noninterest Expense. Total noninterest expense for 2025 amounted to $293.39 million, an increase of $28.33 million, or 10.69%, as compared to 2024. Total noninterest expense for 2024 was $265.06 million, an increase of $27.18 million, or 11.43%, as compared to 2023. An important measure in determining whether a financial institution effectively manages noninterest expenses is the efficiency ratio, which is calculated by dividing noninterest expense by the sum of net interest income on a tax-equivalent basis and noninterest income. Lower ratios indicate better efficiency since more income is generated with a lower noninterest expense total. Our efficiency ratio for 2025 was 45.53%, as compared to 47.23% for 2024 and 47.26% for 2023.

Salaries and employee benefits for 2025 totaled $174.55 million, an increase of $21.26 million, or 13.87%, as compared to 2024. The net increase reflected an increase of $3.00 million in profit sharing expense and $3.16 million in officer bonus and incentive accruals related to growth in earnings over the prior year. Additionally, officer and employee salaries increased for merit-based pay increases, an increase in headcount, as well as market adjustments for front line staff over the past year.

All other categories of noninterest expense for 2025 totaled $118.84 million, an increase of $7.07 million, or 6.33%, as compared to 2024. Included in noninterest expense during 2025, excluding salary and employee benefit related costs, were increases in software amortization and expense and operational and other losses offset by a decrease in legal fees and other related costs of $2.08 million.

Salaries and employee benefits for 2024 totaled $153.30 million, an increase of $21.38 million, or 16.21%, as compared to 2023. The net increase reflected an increase of $8.09 million in profit sharing expense and $4.81 million in officer bonus and incentive accruals related to growth in earnings over the prior year. Additionally, officer and employee salaries increased for additions to the middle market lending team and the audit and risk departments due to growth, as well as merit-based pay increases since the prior year.

All other categories of noninterest expense for 2024 totaled $111.77 million, an increase of $5.80 million, or 5.47%, as compared to 2023. Included in noninterest expense during 2024, excluding salary and employee benefit related costs, were increases in software amortization and expense, occupancy expense, and legal and professional fees offset by a decrease in FDIC insurance premiums of $1.25 million due to the special assessment accrued and expensed in the prior year.

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Noninterest Expense (in thousands):

Income Taxes. Income tax expense was $56.02 million for 2025, as compared to $48.34 million for 2024 and $44.32 million for 2023. Our effective tax rates on pretax income were 18.10%, 17.78% and 18.22%, respectively, for the years 2025, 2024 and 2023. The effective tax rates differ from the statutory federal tax rate of 21.0% largely due to tax exempt interest income earned on certain investment securities and loans, the deductibility of dividends paid to our employee stock ownership plan, excess tax benefits for distribution under our deferred compensation plan and vesting of equity awards, New Market Tax Credit ("NMTC") benefits, and Low Income Housing Tax Credits ("LIHTC").

Balance Sheet Review

Loans. Our portfolio is comprised of loans made to businesses, professionals, individuals, and farm and ranch operations located in the primary trade areas served by our subsidiary bank. As of December 31, 2025, total loans HFI were $8.16 billion, an increase of $245.18 million as compared to December 31, 2024.

As compared to year-end 2024 balances, total commercial loans decreased by $87.28 million, agricultural loans increased $233 thousand, total real estate loans increased $245.04 million, and total consumer loans increased $87.18 million. Loans averaged $8.12 billion during 2025, an increase of $607.02 million over 2024 average balances.

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For modeling purposes, our loan portfolio segments include Commercial and Industrial (“C&I”), Municipal, Agricultural, Construction and Development, Farm, Non-Owner Occupied and Owner Occupied Commercial Real Estate (“CRE”), Residential, Consumer Auto, and Consumer Non-Auto. This additional segmentation allows for a more precise pooling of loans with similar credit risk characteristics and credit monitor procedures for the Company’s calculation of its allowance for credit losses.

The table below outlines the composition of the Company’s HFI loans by portfolio segment.

Composition of Loans Held-For-Investment (in thousands):

Loans HFS, consisting of secondary market mortgage loans, totaled $29.99 million and $8.24 million at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. At December 31, 2025 and 2024, $4.56 million and $442 thousand are valued at the lower of cost or fair value, and the remaining amount is valued under the fair value option.

The Company has certain lending policies and procedures in place that are designed to maximize loan growth with an acceptable level of risk. Management reviews and approves these policies and procedures on an annual basis and makes changes as appropriate with input from our Board of Directors. Management and the board receives and reviews monthly reports related to loan originations, quality, concentrations, delinquencies, nonperforming and potential problem loans. Diversification in the loan portfolio is a means of managing risk associated with fluctuations in economic conditions, both by type of loan and geographic location.

Commercial loans are underwritten after evaluating and understanding the borrower’s ability to operate profitably and effectively. Underwriting standards are designed to determine whether the borrower possesses sound business ethics and practices and to evaluate current and projected cash flows to determine the ability of the borrower to repay their obligations as agreed. Commercial loans are primarily made based on the identified cash flows of the borrower and, secondarily, on the underlying collateral provided by the borrower. Most commercial loans are secured by the assets being financed or other business assets, such as accounts receivable or inventory, and include personal guarantees.

Agricultural loans are subject to underwriting standards and processes similar to commercial loans. These agricultural loans are based primarily on the identified cash flows of the borrower and, secondarily, on the underlying collateral provided by the borrower. Most agricultural loans are secured by the agriculture related assets being financed, such as farm land, cattle or equipment, and include personal guarantees.

Real estate loans are also subject to underwriting standards and processes similar to commercial and agricultural loans. These loans are underwritten primarily based on projected cash flows and, secondarily, as loans secured by real estate. The repayment of real estate loans is generally largely dependent on the successful operation of the property securing the loans or the business conducted on the property securing the loan. Real estate loans may be more adversely affected by conditions in the real estate markets or in the general economy. The properties securing the Company’s real estate portfolio are generally diverse in terms of type and geographic location within Texas. This diversity helps reduce the exposure to adverse economic events that affect any single market or industry.

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Consumer loan underwriting utilizes methodical credit standards and analysis to supplement the Company’s underwriting policies and procedures. The Company’s loan policy addresses types of consumer loans that may be originated and the collateral, if secured, which must be perfected. The relatively smaller individual dollar amounts of consumer loans that are spread over numerous individual borrowers also minimize the Company’s risk.

Commercial real estate loans (owner and non-owner occupied CRE) represent 23.94% of the Company's total loan portfolio as of December 31, 2025. Non-owner occupied CRE represents $832.82 million, or 10.21%, of the Company's total loan portfolio as of December 31, 2025. The properties securing this portfolio are diverse as to geographic location in Texas as well as industry type. Collateral for CRE loans is located throughout the Company's markets in central west Texas, the Dallas-Forth Worth metroplex and southeast Texas with less than 1% of properties located outside of the state. The largest concentrations in the CRE portfolio as to type are industrial/manufacturing at approximately 18.60% and multifamily at approximately 7.75% as of December 31, 2025. All additional CRE portfolio property type categories are below the identified concentration levels. Credit underwriting standards are periodically reviewed and adjusted based upon observations from our ongoing monitoring of economic conditions in our lending areas. In response to the current interest rate environment and increases in benchmark rates, the Company has enhanced stress testing and loan review activities to mitigate interest rate reset risk with a specific emphasis on borrowers' abilities to absorb the impact of higher interest rates as loans that were made in a much lower rate environment renew.

Maturity Distribution and Interest Sensitivity of Loans at December 31, 2025 (in thousands):

The following tables summarize maturity information of our loan portfolio as of December 31, 2025. The table also presents the portion of loans that have fixed interest rates or variable interest rates that fluctuate over the life of the loans in accordance with changes in an interest rate index.

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Of the $4.71 billion of the variable interest rate loans shown above, loans totaling $2.17 billion mature or reprice over the next twelve months. Of this amount, approximately $1.81 billion will reprice immediately upon changes in the underlying index rate (primarily U.S. prime rate) with the remaining $354.40 million being subject to floors above or ceilings below the current index.

Asset Quality. Our loan portfolio is subject to periodic reviews by our centralized independent loan review group as well as periodic examinations by bank regulatory agencies. Loans are placed on nonaccrual status when, in management's opinion, the borrower may be unable to meet payment obligations as they become due, as well as when required by regulatory provisions. Nonaccrual, past due 90 days or more and still accruing, and restructured loans plus foreclosed assets were $56.49 million at December 31, 2025, as compared to $63.10 million at December 31, 2024 and $35.10 million at December 31, 2023. As a percent of loans HFI and foreclosed assets, these assets were 0.69% at December 31, 2025, as compared to 0.80% at December 31, 2024 and 0.49% at December 31, 2023. As a percent of total assets, these assets were 0.37% at December 31, 2025, as compared to 0.45% at December 31, 2024 and 0.27% at December 31, 2023. We believe the level of these assets to be manageable and are not aware of any material classified credits not properly disclosed as nonperforming at December 31, 2025.

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Nonaccrual, Past Due 90 Days or More and Still Accruing, Restructured Loans and Foreclosed Assets (in thousands, except percentages):

We record interest payments received on nonaccrual loans as reductions of principal. Prior to the loans being placed on nonaccrual, we recognized interest income on these loans as of December 31, 2025 of approximately $795 thousand during the year ended December 31, 2025. If interest on all nonaccrual loans at December 31, 2025 had been recognized on a full accrual basis during the year ended December 31, 2025, such income would have approximated $5.69 million.

Included in our loan portfolio are certain other loans not included in the table above that are deemed to be potential problem loans. Potential problem loans are those loans that are currently performing, but for which known information about trends, uncertainties or possible credit problems of the borrowers causes management to have serious doubts as to the ability of such borrowers to comply with present repayment terms, possibly resulting in the transfer of such loans to nonperforming status. These potential problem loans totaled $3.67 million as of December 31, 2025.

See Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information on these assets.

Allowance for Credit Losses. The allowance for credit losses is the amount we determine as of a specific date to be appropriate to absorb current expected credit losses on existing loans. For a discussion of our methodology, see our accounting policies in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The provision for credit losses was $28.61 million in 2025, $13.82 million in 2024, and $10.63 million in 2023. The Company's provision for credit losses during 2025 was impacted by a $21.55 million credit loss believed to be due to fraudulent activity associated with a commercial borrower. The Company's provision for credit losses during 2024 was driven by strong organic loan growth and an increase in classified loans.

As a percent of average loans, net loan charge-offs were 0.29%, 0.05%, and 0.03% during 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively. The allowance for credit losses as a percent of loans HFI was 1.29% as of December 31, 2025, as compared to 1.24% as of December 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. Included in the following tables are further analysis of our allowance for credit losses.

Although we believe we use the best information available to make credit loss allowance determinations, future adjustments could be necessary if circumstances or economic conditions differ substantially from the assumptions used in making our initial determinations. A downturn in the economy or lower employment could result in increased levels of nonaccrual, past due 90 days or more and still accruing, foreclosed assets, charge-offs, increased provision for credit losses and reductions in income. Additionally, as an integral part of their examination process, bank regulatory agencies regularly review the adequacy of our allowance for credit losses. The banking agencies could require additions to our allowance for credit losses based on their judgment of information available to them at the time of their examinations of our bank subsidiary.

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Loan Loss Experience and Allowance for Credit Losses (in thousands, except percentages):

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Allocation of Allowance for Credit Losses (in thousands):