Moline-based QCR Holdings, Inc. has announced quarterly net income of $33.4 million, and diluted earnings per share of $1.99, for the first quarter of 2026 – marking a new record for its first quarter results.
QCRH, the parent company of Quad City Bank & Trust and other Midwest banking subsidiaries, released its earnings report Wednesday, April 22. The results for the period, ended March 31, compared to net income of $35.7 million and diluted EPS of $2.12 for fourth quarter 2025 and $25.8 million and $1.52, respectively, in the first quarter of 2025.
“We are very pleased to have delivered record first quarter net income, representing 1.40% ROAA and 31% EPS growth compared to a year ago, in what is historically a softer quarter for capital markets revenue,” QCRH President and CEO Todd Gipple said in the earnings release. “Our strong first quarter results were highlighted by healthy loan and deposit growth, significantly lower noninterest expense, and modest margin expansion.”
He added that the results underscore how QCRH continues to strengthen profitability across its traditional banking and wealth management businesses. “We also maintained excellent asset quality and generated meaningful growth in tangible book value (TBV) per share while returning nearly $21 million to shareholders through opportunistic share repurchases,” he said.
As of March 31, QCRH had $9.6 billion in assets, $7.3 billion in loans and $7.8 billion in deposits.
The company also is building a new headquarters and QCBT branch at The Plex in Bettendorf.
Strong loan growth
In the first quarter of 2026, total loans grew $145.3 million, or 8% annualized, excluding the planned runoff of the m2 portfolio.
The company identified $522.9 million of low-income housing tax credit (“LIHTC”) loans planned for the next permanent loan securitization and construction loan sale. Following the successful sale of LIHTC construction loans to a private investor in the previous quarter, QCRH expects to close on its second LIHTC construction loan sale of approximately $207.3 million in funded balances and on its next Freddie Mac LIHTC tax-exempt permanent loan securitization of $315.6 million.
“The upcoming offtake of LIHTC loans will allow us to expand LIHTC lending opportunities and drive incremental capital markets revenue,” said Mr. Gipple.
Total core deposits increased by $409.1 million, or 23% annualized, from the fourth quarter of 2025. The deposit mix remained stable while total brokered deposits declined by $52.4 million in the first quarter. Total deposits were $7.8 billion, an increase of $356.7 million, or 19% annualized.
Margin expansion
Net interest income for the first quarter was $67.4 million, a decrease of $0.9 million or 1%, from the fourth quarter of 2025.
“Our robust deposit growth occurred early in the quarter, enabling us to reduce higher-cost wholesale and brokered funding, while loan growth occurred late in the quarter, muting the full benefit to margin expansion,” Chief Financial Officer Nick Anderson said in the release. “We are guiding to second quarter Net Interest Margin (NIM) tax-equivalent yield (TEY) ranging from static to an increase of 3 basis points, assuming no Federal Reserve rate changes.”
Historical 1Q average
Noninterest income for the quarter was $23.0 million, down from $38.7 million in the previous fourth quarter. QCRH generated $10.7 million of capital markets revenue compared to $24.5 million in the prior quarter.
“Our capital markets business performed as expected in the first quarter, reflecting typical seasonality and in line with the historical first quarter average,” Mr. Gipple said. “With nearly a decade of experience in the LIHTC business, we continue to view it as a highly durable, profitable, and differentiated business for the company, supported by long-standing developer relationships and consistently high-quality assets.”
Noninterest expense for the first quarter of 2026 totaled $52.1 million compared to $62.9 million for the previous quarter. The $10.7 million linked-quarter decrease primarily reflected a $5.5 million reduction in salary and employee benefits from lower variable compensation.
“Our noninterest expense decreased 17% during the quarter, reflecting the flexibility of our expense structure, particularly variable compensation tied to performance and the timing of digital transformation investments,” said Mr. Anderson. “This structure closely aligns our underlying expense base with performance, supporting a pay-for-performance culture and value creation for shareholders.”
Per share growth
The TBV increased by $1.33, or 9% annualized, during the quarter driven by strong earnings during the quarter and partially offset by share repurchases.
Share repurchases continued in the first quarter as the company repurchased approximately 247,000 shares and returned $20.8 million of capital to shareholders.
The repurchase program authorized in October 2025 provides a flexible capital allocation tool to deploy capital consistently with strategic and financial objectives.
The relationship-driven, multi-bank holding company has 36 locations serving customers in the bistate Quad Cities; the Iowa communities of Cedar Rapids, Cedar Valley and Des Moines/Ankeny; and Springfield, Missouri.
