Transcript: Hancock Whitney Q2 2026 Earnings Conference Call

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ: HWC ) released second-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Tuesday.

Read the complete transcript below.

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For comprehensive financial data and transcripts, visit Access the full call at Summary Hancock Whitney Corporation reported a strong second quarter of 2026 with significant profitability and balance sheet growth, including a 13% improvement in EPS and a 5% growth in loans compared to the previous year.

The company secured regulatory and shareholder approval for the acquisition of One Florida Bank, with an expected closing date on August 1, 2026, and updated guidance reflecting this acquisition.

Loan and deposit growth continued robustly, with loans growing 10% and deposits 8% on a linked-quarter annualized basis.

The company's net interest margin improved slightly, demonstrating effective funding of loan growth with core deposits.

The company maintained a strong return on average assets (ROA) of 1.42% and an efficiency ratio of 55.3%, while net interest income and fee income saw increases of 3% and 2%, respectively.

Management expressed confidence in the disciplined execution and the ongoing strategic focus on expanding in Texas and Florida, as well as maintaining a strong capital deployment strategy, including exhausting the current share buyback authorization by year-end.

Full Transcript OPERATOR Welcome to Hancock Whitney Corporation second quarter 2026 earnings conference call.

At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode.

Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will follow at that time.

As a reminder, this call may be recorded.

I would now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Ashley Wilshire, Head of Investor Relations.

You may begin.

Ashley Wilshire, Head of Investor Relations Thank you, and good afternoon.

During today's call, we may make forward-looking statements.

We would like to remind everyone to carefully review the safe harbor language that was published with the earnings release and presentation and in the Company's most recent 10-K and 10-Q, including the risks and uncertainties identified therein.

You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statements made by Hancock Whitney speak only as of the date on which they were made.

As everyone understands, the current economic environment is rapidly evolving and changing.

Hancock Whitney's ability to accurately project results or predict the effects of future plans or strategies or predict market or economic developments is inherently limited.

We believe that the expectations reflected or implied by any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions but are not guarantees of performance or results, and our actual results and performance could differ materially from those set forth in our forward-looking statements.

Hancock Whitney undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Some of the remarks contain non-GAAP financial measures.

You can find reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures in our earnings release and the financial tables.

The presentation slides included in our 8-K are also posted with the conference call webcast link on the Investor Relations website.

We will reference some of these slides in today's call.

Participating in today's call are John Hairston, President and CEO; Mike Achary, CFO; Chris Saluka, Chief Credit Officer; and Shane Loper, Chief Operating Officer.

I will now turn the call over to John Hairston.

John Hairston, President and CEO Thank you, Ashley.

And thanks everyone for joining us today.

The second quarter of 2026 was another strong quarter of profitability, efficiency, and return of capital to shareholders.

We were pleased to add solid balance sheet growth on both sides of the ledger to an already excellent quarter.

Compared to the same period a year ago, we were pleased to see EPS improvement of 13%, PPNR growth of 6%, a sixth straight quarter of improved commercial criticized loans, 5% growth in loans, and 2% growth in total deposits.

We were pleased to welcome another 15 net new bankers in the second quarter, bringing our total for the year to 42 against our annual goal of 50.

Focusing on the second quarter, on a linked-quarter annualized basis loans grew 10% and deposits 8%, as shown on slide 9 of our investor deck.