East West Bancorp (EWBC) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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DATE

Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET

CALL PARTICIPANTS

• Director of Investor Relations - Adrienne Atkinson
• Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Dominic Ng
• Chief Financial Officer - Chris Del Moral-Niles
• Chief Risk Officer - Irene Oh

TAKEAWAYS

• Net Interest Income -- $685 million, representing a record level driven by balance sheet growth and a positive mix shift toward demand deposits.
• Net Interest Margin -- 3.43%, reflecting a decrease from the prior quarter due to one less day in the period and spread compression on loans.
• Total Deposits -- $1.2 billion in growth during the quarter, with end-of-period balances increasing 8% year over year.
• Demand Deposits -- $875 million increase in the second quarter, accounting for more than two-thirds of total deposit growth.
• Noninterest Bearing Deposits -- 19% growth year over year, reflecting a strategic focus on core relationship expansion.
• Total Loans -- 7% increase year over year, driven by growth in residential mortgage and commercial and industrial (C&I) portfolios.
• Residential Mortgage Loans -- $300 million in net growth during the second quarter, while maintaining a conservative average portfolio loan-to-value ratio of 52%.
• C&I Loans -- $300 million net growth in the second quarter and 11% growth year over year, with notable demand from financial services and manufacturers.
• Noninterest Income -- $96 million, representing 19% year-over-year growth driven by performance in fee-based businesses.
• Wealth Management Fees -- 71% growth for the first six months of the year, following proactive investments in the business and hiring.
• Operating Expenses -- $268 million for the second quarter, reflecting ongoing investments in personnel and technological platforms.
• Efficiency Ratio -- 36.7%, remaining consistent with prior periods as revenue growth offset increased operating costs.
• Nonperforming Assets -- 29 basis points of total assets, up 3 basis points quarter over quarter but remaining broadly stable.
• Net Charge-offs -- 19 basis points or $27 million, compared with 9 basis points or $12 million in the first quarter.
• Provision for Credit Losses -- $33 million, compared with $36 million in the first quarter of 2026.
• Allowance for Credit Losses -- $842 million or 1.43% of total loans, reflecting loan growth and shifts in the portfolio mix.
• Common Equity Tier 1 Capital Ratio -- 15.4%, positioning the company among the best-capitalized banks in the industry.
• Tangible Common Equity Ratio -- 10.4%, on which the company generated a 17% return during the second quarter.
• Loan Growth Guidance -- 6% to 8% for the full year, updated from prior expectations due to performance in the first half of the year.
• NII Growth Guidance -- 7% to 9% for 2026, increased from the previous range of 6% to 8% based on results to date.
• Expense Guidance -- 8% to 9% growth for the full year, narrowed from the previous range to reflect current spending trajectories.
• Share Repurchases -- $117 million remains available under the current authorization for future opportunistic buybacks.
• Dividends -- $111 million distributed to shareholders during the second quarter, with the next dividend payable on Aug. 17.
• Deposit Costs -- 6 basis point reduction in period-end costs, supported by the continued shift away from certificates of deposit and wholesale funds.

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RISKS

• Del Moral-Niles stated, "There'll be some deposit competition factors that we're very mindful of and very thoughtful about as we think about how we're going to roll over and reprice, particularly our CDs in Q3," noting potential pressure on interest-bearing deposit costs.

SUMMARY

Management at East West Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EWBC) reported that record financial results were driven by expansion in core deposit and loan portfolios, specifically focusing on demand deposit growth to manage funding costs. The company increased its full-year guidance for interest income and lending activity to reflect stronger performance in the first half of the year. Strategic emphasis remains on diversifying the balance sheet through growth in residential mortgage and commercial portfolios while maintaining stable credit quality. The bank also maintained its capital strength, allowing for continued shareholder returns through dividends and opportunistic share repurchases.

• Del Moral-Niles estimated that $200 million to $250 million of end-of-period demand deposits reflected net excess tariff refund inflows that management expects will be deployed by customers.
• The company expects $13 billion in certificates of deposit to roll off in the third quarter, with management currently pricing for retention at 3.6% to 3.75%.
• Dominic Ng indicated the bank is targeting a long-term balance sheet mix of one-third C&I, one-third residential mortgage, and one-third commercial real estate (CRE).
• The Chief Financial Officer noted that compensation and benefit costs were influenced by changes in vacation pay and deferred compensation, which are expected to moderate in the second half of the year.
• Management confirmed that the company remains asset sensitive, with a 25 basis point rate move estimated to impact net interest income by approximately $2 million per month.
• CEO Ng stated the company remains neutral regarding the use of capital for share repurchases versus M&A, evaluating each opportunity based on its ability to enhance long-term shareholder value.

INDUSTRY GLOSSARY

• C&I: Commercial and Industrial loans made to businesses for working capital or capital expenditures.
• CET1: Common Equity Tier 1 capital, a measure of a bank's core equity capital compared with its total risk-weighted assets.
• CRE: Commercial Real Estate loans secured by income-producing properties such as office buildings and multifamily housing.
• DDA: Demand Deposit Account, a bank account from which deposited funds can be withdrawn at any time without advance notice.
• NDFI: Non-Depository Financial Institutions, often referring to private equity or investment firms.
• NIM: Net Interest Margin, the difference between the interest income generated by a bank and the amount of interest paid out to its lenders.
• NPA: Nonperforming Assets, referring to loans that are in default or close to being in default.
• TCE: Tangible Common Equity, a measure of a bank's capital that excludes intangible assets like goodwill.

Full Conference Call Transcript

Operator: Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Adrienne Atkinson, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Adrienne Atkinson: Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, and thank you everyone for joining us to review East West Bancorp's second quarter 2026 financial results. With me are Dominic Ng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Chris Del Moral-Niles, Chief Financial Officer, and Irene Oh, Chief Risk Officer. This call is being recorded and will be available for replay on our investor relations website. The slide deck referenced during this call is available on our investor relations site. Management may make projections or other forward-looking statements, which may differ materially from the actual results due to a number of risks and uncertainties. Management may discuss non-GAAP financial measures.

For a more detailed description of the risk factors and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures, please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 8-K filed today. I will now turn the call over to Dominic.

Dominic Ng: Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for our second quarter earnings call. I am pleased to report that East West earned record total revenue, net interest income and non-interest income in the second quarter. These results were driven by new record levels of loans and deposits. End-of-period deposits grew by 8% year-over-year, with strength across all deposit product categories. Notably, demand deposits accounted for more than two-thirds of this quarter's total increase. A continued focus on providing solutions to our customers helped drive a 19% increase in non-interest-bearing deposits year-over-year. End-of-period loans were up 7% year-over-year, with growth in residential mortgage and C&I further increasing the diversification of our portfolio.

Non-interest income also grew to a new record in the second quarter and is up over 20% year-over-year. This performance has been driven by consistent execution across all our fee-based businesses.

Dominic Ng: In particular, we see continued growth opportunities in wealth management and have been proactive in building out this business. Our credit quality remains strong. Non-performing assets, criticized loans, and net charge-off levels all remained broadly stable and continue to reflect our disciplined approach to risk management. Our capital position remains a key advantage for East West, with a tangible common equity ratio over 10%, on which we generate a 17% return. We believe our financial strength and customer-focused strategy position us to deliver sustainable growth and long-term shareholder value. I will now turn the call over to Chris to provide more details on our second quarter financial performance. Chris?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Thanks, Dominic. Let's start with the deposit slide on page four. Our end-of-period deposits grew by $1.2 billion across our more than 700,000 customer accounts. Demand deposits were up $875 million during the quarter, which accounted for the lion's share of the growth. Average DDA was up 15% year-over-year, reflecting the continued success of our small business checking campaigns and positive flows from tariff refunds across hundreds of our accounts. Our DDA mix grew to 26% of total deposits due to core relationship growth. We continued to shift away from CDs, wholesale, and public funds deposits and further emphasize core DDA. This ongoing shift helped us to support the margin and control our deposit costs during the quarter.

Turning to loans on slide five, as Dominic mentioned, we continue to diversify our loan portfolio by emphasizing growth in residential mortgage and C&I.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Residential mortgage was this quarter's standout, with over $300 million of net growth. We remain committed to our conservative underwriting approach as we continue to maintain a 52% average portfolio LTV in our residential book. C&I lending balances were also up over $300 million in the second quarter, with notable growth in lending to financial services, equipment finance and lessors, and manufacturers and wholesalers. Our NDFI balances increased by just $24 million, reflecting expected paydowns in our private equity loan book and consumer credit portfolios, which we had anticipated and relayed last quarter. Overall, C&I loans are up 11% year-over-year, representing over $2 billion of net growth in that period.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Given the 7% level of growth we've seen over the first half of the year and the pipeline that we see looking into Q3, we are updating our guidance for the full year loan growth to now be in the range of 6%-8% by year end. Switching to NII and margin trends on slide six. Quarterly dollar net interest income grew to a record $685 million, reflecting our balance sheet growth and improving mix shift. Our net interest margin came in at 3.43%. Reflecting one less day in the quarter, in line with our guidance, and up notably eight basis points year-over-year.

Our positive deposit remixing trends continued during the quarter and allowed us to further reduce our deposit costs, driving a six basis point reduction in our period end deposit cost.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Looking back over the past year, we have decreased interest-bearing deposit costs by 49 basis points against a backdrop of 75 basis points of cuts in the Fed funds target. Given our robust NII growth year to date, we now expect full year NII growth to be in the range of up 7%-9%, an improvement from a prior guidance range of 6%-8%. Moving on to fees on slide seven. Quarterly fee income grew 19% year-over-year to $96 million. While total fee income was down $3 million from Q1, this largely reflects the record wealth management results we reported in the first quarter and a slight downtick in some derivative activity.

Nonetheless, loan and deposit-related fees were up 14% year-over-year, reflecting our ability to grow fees as we grow the balance sheet.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We remain focused on driving a healthy level of fee income and further diversifying our revenue streams. We are on track to deliver double-digit year-over-year growth in fee income for 2026. Turning to expenses on slide eight. Total operating non-interest expenses were $268 million for the second quarter. Comp and benefits costs were flat quarter-over-quarter. We expect the level of comp and benefits to actually moderate over the back half of the year. Other expense categories experienced an uptick as we continue to invest in people and platforms to sustain growth. Nonetheless, East West delivered another quarter of industry-leading efficiency.

The Q2 efficiency ratio was 36.7%, consistent with the prior periods, and our operating non-interest expense to average asset ratio remained flat at 1.29%. Based on our year-to-date trends, we are narrowing our full-year expense growth guidance range to 8%-9% versus last year.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I will now hand the call over to Irene for comments on credit and capital.

Irene Oh: Thank you, Chris. Good afternoon to all on the call. As you can see on slide nine, our asset quality metrics held broadly stable. Quarter-over-quarter, non-performing assets saw a slight uptick of three basis points to 29 basis points as of June 30th, 2026. We recorded net charge-offs of 19 basis points in the second quarter, or $27 million, compared to nine basis points in the first quarter, or $12 million. We are reaffirming our guidance range of 15-25 basis points for the full year. We recorded a provision for credit losses of $33 million in the second quarter, compared with $36 million for the first quarter. Overall, we continue to remain vigilant and proactive in managing our credit risks.

Turning to slide 10.

Irene Oh: The allowance for credit losses increased $6 million to $842 million, or 1.43% of total loans as of June 30th, reflecting quarter-over-quarter loan growth and portfolio mix shift. We believe we are adequately reserved for the content of our loan portfolio given the current economic outlook. Turning to slide 11. All of East West's regulatory capital ratios remain well in excess of regulatory requirements for well-capitalized institutions and well above regional and national bank averages. East West's common equity Tier 1 capital ratio stands at a robust 15.4%, while the tangible common equity ratio now sits at 10.4%. These capital levels continue to place us amongst the best-capitalized banks in the industry.

We currently have $117 million of repurchase authorization that remains available for future buybacks. East West also distributed approximately $111 million to shareholders via quarterly dividends.

Irene Oh: East West's third quarter 2026 dividend will be payable on August 17th, 2026, to stockholders of record on August 3rd, 2026. I will now turn the call back to Chris to share our outlook. Chris?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Thank you, Irene. To recap, we have updated four elements for our guidance today, each of which is reflected on slide 12. Number one, we're assuming flat Fed funds through the end of the year. Number two, we're increasing our 2026 full year guidance for end of period loan growth. Number three, we are increasing our full year 2026 net interest income guidance. Number four, we're narrowing the range of our full year expense guidance. With that, I'll now open the call for questions. Operator?

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, you may press star then one on your touch-tone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star and then two. In the interest of time, please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. We'll now pause momentarily to assemble the roster. The first question will come from Jared Shaw with Barclays. Please go ahead.

Jared Shaw: Hey, good afternoon. Thanks. I guess maybe just starting with margin. Those great trends in cost of funds. It looks like we saw a little bit of spread compression maybe on the loan side. How should we think about some of those components going forward in this flat rate environment? Is there still an expectation that loan yields grind lower from here?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Well, Jared, we're focused on, first of all, hitting our net interest income targets, and those continue to come along quite nicely. Absolutely, we consider margin dynamics. Overall, we expect our margin to hold relatively stable as we look to a relatively stable Fed funds environment. That having been said, yes, we're seeing some marginal compression or grinding, as you put it, on loans. Part of that was mix driven, and part of that was some one-time accretion benefits that we saw in the first quarter, which were partly offset by some negative items that we saw in the second quarter.

That having been said, our general outlook is we're going to hold the margin relatively stable and continue to grind out stronger NII through balance sheet growth over the balance of the year.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: There'll be some deposit competition factors that we're very mindful of and very thoughtful about as we think about how we're going to roll over and reprice, particularly our CDs in Q3. So far, our customers have hung with us even as we've been pricing below what might be considered top of market by a decent amount, and a reflection of the customer relationships that we have and our ability to manage those at the branch level.

Jared Shaw: Okay. All right. Thanks. I guess on the deposit side, you called out the DDA growth, part of that coming from tariff benefits. What's the expectation of those balances staying through or are customers going to be deploying that windfall? Could you remind us of what the CD roll-off is in the third quarter?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Sure. Let me take those in backwards order. The CD roll-off in the third quarter will be $13 billion. We're proactively pricing that today at 360 on a six-month and 375 on a 12-month, although we'll be looking at those levels as we migrate through the quarter. In all likelihood, we'll be a little bit more competitive later in the quarter. With respect to tariff deposits, yes, we did see inflows. We estimate roughly somewhere between $200 million and $250 million of the period-end balance likely reflected net excess tariff-related inflows. What we saw throughout the quarter is money came in and money went out.

We would tell you that of the $200, $250 that was there at quarter end, most of it has already gone back to wherever it needed to go.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: On the other hand, there are ongoing tariff deposits coming in still under those refund programs, and they'll likely continue into August.

Jared Shaw: Thank you.

Operator: The next question will come from Casey Haire with Autonomous Research. Please go ahead.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Afternoon, Casey. Casey, you might be on mute. Casey, going once. All right, next one, operator.

Operator: The next question will come from Dave Rochester with Cantor. Please go ahead.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Afternoon, Dave.

Dave Rochester: Hey, good afternoon, guys. Just maybe one quick one on expenses on the guide. It looks like you would need to see a decrease from that 2Q level in the back half of the year. Chris, you spoke to moderating comp expense going forward earlier. Is that primarily where you're going to see the decrease to be able to hit that guide? And then what is it that made that comp line elevated this quarter?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Sure. I think you've probably heard two or three of our peer banks talk about deferred comp expenses this quarter.

Dave Rochester: Yep.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We too have a deferred comp plan, and that's part of it, obviously. We also had some changes to the way we think about vacation pay around here that influenced that number this quarter. Those two things will moderate out, therefore the comp line certainly in Q3 and likely dampen what would otherwise be growth in Q4. That gives us comfort that overall expense levels remain relatively stable as we move through the back half of the year.

Dave Rochester: Great. Just back on the DDA growth. Again, that was outstanding. I know some of this is coming from the tariff benefit. Have you guys changed any of your banker incentives or anything else that could support that going forward as you focus to shift towards more DDA?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I think it's been more a change of messaging and direction and focus. That combination has resulted in, I think, a behavioral shift where people have seen the light on the need to essentially go door to door and make sure that we are evangelizing the East West value proposition as efficiently and effectively as possible. That continues to work really well in our core markets.

Dave Rochester: All right.

Dominic Ng: I mean, on the retail banking side, we have a focus on getting our retail bankers to go after small business checking accounts. That campaign has been going pretty well. In fact, it did really well last year. It continued to do well this year. Getting them to focus on commercial banking clients. They are small businesses. One small business at a time. That's not to say they are not taking care of retail consumer clients, as that's always their core business. They have continued to bring in retail consumer core customers. Meanwhile, they're also out there in the market, on the street, and then talking to small business one at a time.

So far, they've generated some pretty decent momentum. I think that clearly contributes to our growth of non-interest-bearing deposits.

Dave Rochester: Sounds good. Thanks, guys.

Operator: The next question will come from David Smith with Truist Securities. Please go ahead.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Good afternoon.

David Smith: Hey, good afternoon. C&I growth was pretty strong. Can you talk about the range of industries driving this? Are there a few standouts, or is it a pretty diverse set of sectors at work? If you could compare that breadth to what you were also seeing a quarter ago, please.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Sure. I think in the first quarter, by contrast, we saw a very significant uptick in our private equity capital call line activity in particular. We called out at the end of the first quarter that we expected to see that volume pay down, and in fact, that's exactly what we saw in April and into early May. In the second quarter, we saw a pickup in financial services, equipment finance, lessor financing, and as well as manufacturers and wholesale distribution borrowings. All of those sectors contributed to this quarter's growth range, while we continue to obviously have a strong growth as well in residential mortgage.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Those two portfolios together accounted for the larger part of the total growth, and we're certainly delighted to see both the breadth and diversification of the C&I book and the continued conservative quality of the residential mortgage book drive our loan growth.

David Smith: Thanks. Just for the loan growth this year, assume that should continue to be predominantly C&I and residential mortgage into the second half?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We continue to be focused on attaining a third, a third, a third diversification at some point in the future. As we look at our balance sheet mix today, we still find ourselves a little underweight in resi mortgage. We're happy to see that be the standout this quarter and expect that we'll have a good quarter in Q3 as well. We obviously are continuously focused on growing our C&I business, and that's there. We're at 34% C&I of total loans right now. We intend to defend that level and hopefully improve on it a bit.

Together, those two will chip away at the allocation to CRE, which at 37% is still a little heavier than our long-term vision, but we're very comfortable with our clients in that space. We're very comfortable with our portfolio.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We're very comfortable with the credits, there's no intent for us to shrink those portfolios. It's just that we're growing all of our portfolios in a balanced manner.

David Smith: All right. Thank you.

Operator: The next question will come from Manan Gosalia with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Good afternoon.

Manan Gosalia: Hey, good afternoon. Maybe on the NIB deposits again. If I understood your comments correctly, just given the tariff-related deposits coming in and going out, is it fair to say that the average deposit number in 2Q is the right number to grow off of as opposed to the end of period number?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: That's part of the reason I mentioned the 15% average quarter-over-quarter in my comments. Yes, good catch.

Manan Gosalia: Okay. As we think about the jumping off deposit rates. You mentioned that you might take another look at the 6- to 12-month promo deposits that you're offering. As we look at some of these deposit rates on slide six, the 2.76 on interest-bearing deposit cost spot, and then the 2.04 on total deposit costs. I guess, is that 2.76% the right number to jump off of for 3Q and 4Q?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Yeah, that is the end of period deposit cost. That's the right launch point, I think what we're trying to figure out is where do we think that number lines up relative to the competitive landscape as we move forward through the balance of the year. As we sit here today, I think we recognize there are a number of smaller banks and some larger banks that are offering deposit rates well above where we are. That having been said, we continue to see progress and expect to see more progress on our DDA over the balance of the year.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We're not sure we need to stretch for the highest yield, I think we need to focus on making sure we're servicing our customers on a holistic basis across all of their deposit and lending needs, that the relationship we think is worth a few basis points.

Manan Gosalia: Got it. Thank you.

Operator: The next question will come from David Chiaverini with Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Good afternoon, David.

David Chiaverini: Hi. Thanks for taking the questions. On net interest income, how you raised the guide to 7%-9% from 6%-8%, is the main driver of that the DDA deposit growth? Can you talk through that?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Well, I think it's both because we're also raising the loan growth, so the asset growth profile of East West Bank, I think, is coming in a little stronger, in part because overall deposits have come in. Added to that is the fact that some of those deposits have come in non-interest-bearing. So the combination of the fact that deposit growth and loan growth continue to come in perhaps better than we would've expected earlier in the year is a positive, coupled with the fact that we are getting some of those deposits or the fact the majority of those deposits in a lower cost framework allows us to lift the guide.

David Chiaverini: Great. Thanks for that. Then on rate sensitivity, you mentioned about stable NIM with a stable Fed funds. How should we think about if we do get a rate hike, the impact on East West?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We are modestly asset sensitive, and we've said in the past that we think a 25 basis point rate hike or rate cut probably costs us about $2 million a month with about a 45-day lag.

David Chiaverini: Thank you.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Yep.

Operator: The next question will come from Timur Braziler with UBS. Please go ahead.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Tim.

Timur Braziler: Hi. Good afternoon. Looking at the CD repricing, I'm assuming you're now starting to get into some of the back end of 2025 production that I think was in the three fours, and now coming in kind of three six, three seven. Is that the right way to think about it? Do CD costs start going up here? I'm just wondering to what extent is the expectation internally that some of the growth in DDA will be a gating factor in maybe containing some of those CD costs going higher?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I think we've been relatively both successful and pleased by our ability to retain the CD book here through the second quarter. The majority of our CD book has in fact been around the six-month maturity. So most of the lower level 340 special type dollars already repriced into 360 or 368, which is where we ran our Lunar New Year CD campaign earlier this year. The baseline for those repricings will be what happens in August and September. That's what we're looking at is given that those were at 368, what's the right level to price to retain those as we sit here, in July looking out to what's going to come rolling in August and September.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We haven't quite decided how we'll land on that, I think we're looking at a variety of maturity structures, in part to spread out that over a longer horizon, in part because the extent the forwards are telling us rates might move forward, it could help pay for it over the longer term. We're pricing for retention, not necessarily for CD balance expansion.

Timur Braziler: Got it. Helpful. Thank you. As a follow-up, would love to hear how you are thinking about that $100 billion threshold, both in terms of LFI-related expense and maybe what that means for capital optionality here.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We continue to have a significant level of capital options. We continue to be focused on driving ourselves to be the best operational bank we can be. Making the investments in things like cyber resiliency backup that we think support having a high quality, high performing bank. The emphasis regulatorily wise seems to have shifted to one of safety and soundness. From a safety and soundness perspective, while East West Bank perhaps can't claim to be too big to fail, we aim and strive to be too strong to fail. We've consistently made sure we have the capital and the liquidity profile to support that. That's been the emphasis and focus. Dominic, would you care to add to that?

Dominic Ng: Yeah. That sounds good.

Timur Braziler: Great. Thank you.

Operator: The next question will come from Ebrahim Poonawala with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Ebrahim Poonawala: Hey, good afternoon.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Good afternoon, Ebrahim.

Ebrahim Poonawala: Hey, Chris. Maybe just on capital, just maybe revisit that one, given the trajectory you're on, do you see capital levels building? I'm assuming you're okay with it, and in your priorities, you list buybacks below M&A. Is it just that you like buybacks even less than you like M&A, or should we read anything into that?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I think that's a pretty standard lineup for us here. Given that, we haven't done M&A in now going on 12 years, it's clearly not the first burner. Obviously focusing on organic growth is the primary driver. From a total capital perspective, we feel very comfortable, in fact, proud of maintaining a ten plus percent tangible common equity level. From a capital distribution and return profile, we think our current dividend is very competitive, but we'll obviously look to revisit that from time to time. I think the market is one where there will be opportunities for disciplined M&A.

In the absence of that, we obviously have been very opportunistic even this year in share repurchases and will remain very opportunistic going forward.

Dominic Ng: Okay. Yeah, I'll just add a little bit more. All of us here are professional hired guns at East West Bank, we don't like or dislike M&A or buyback or anything. We love our shareholders. What we do is that, we always weigh each opportunity against the other, we do it on a regular basis. Our instant reflex is that whenever there is a, let's say, an M&A opportunity, we assess, evaluate, then we weigh against, is it better to do this versus just go ahead and then buy back, right? Those are the things that we're constantly evaluating, we are very neutral. There's nothing particular that we either like or dislike.

We're just going to do whatever we think is the best option that enhances long-term shareholder value.

Dominic Ng: What we also keep in mind is that long-term shareholder value may not come if we don't do well short term. That's what you're seeing, this record earnings after record earnings and a record whatever. It's because the strong performance quarter after quarter is the best validation that we have the ability to sustain long-term growth and long-term shareholder return. From that standpoint, we actually don't take these buybacks or not buybacks lightly. We're just looking at the entire East West Bank situation, and we're also looking at the global landscape in terms of what's happening in this world. We make our decision about what is the appropriate time to execute whatever is best for our shareholders.

That's what we do.

Ebrahim Poonawala: Got it. Very clear. I guess maybe just on the fee side, good growth over the last several quarters. We have seen fees kind of bounce around in this $90 million range over the last three or four quarters. Just talk to us in terms of the trajectory of that, the growth that we've seen year-over-year. Is that repeatable on fees? Maybe if we can spend some time on the wealth management side. You've talked about this in the past, where are we investing and what should we expect in terms of the growth for that sort of revenue stream and the opportunity there? Thank you.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Sure. Thank you, Abhi, for the question. I would note wealth management fees, if you're looking at page nine of the press release tables, are up 71% year-over-year for the first six months. Clearly, that's been a market opportunity for us. We have leaned into that opportunity with new hiring. We have leaned into that opportunity with investments in the platform and the people and the talent to drive that business further forward. We continue to think that is an area where there'll be additional opportunities for growth as we look through the back half of this year and into next year. We're certainly investing in the people and the platform to do so.

Commercial and consumer deposit-related fees have also been growing nicely. They're also up more than 15% year-over-year, six months.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Again, we see that as an area where we have been able to push new solutions. We've been able to offer new solutions to our clients that have resulted in additional uptake, which has been quite positive. FX loan-related fees also up quite nicely. Taken together, all fees up 15% year-over-year gives us comfort that our double-digit growth aspiration is very much attainable for the full year 2026.

Ebrahim Poonawala: Got it. Sounds like, Chris, if all else equal, macro remains more or less the same, the runway to deliver sort of double-digit growth, the kind of growth that you're seeing in wealth, that there's still meaningful runway on both fronts, overall fees as well as the growth on the wealth side.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I'm not calling for a sustained 70% year-over-year growth.

Ebrahim Poonawala: Got it.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I am calling for continued. I'm hoping that the investments we're making in the people and the platforms will continue to pay dividends to us and our shareholders in the quarters ahead.

Ebrahim Poonawala: Understood. Thank you.

Operator: The next question will come from Chris McGratty with KBW. Please go ahead.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Good afternoon, Chris.

Chris McGratty: Good afternoon, everybody. Chris, maybe on the NII guide up the second quarter in a row, you tightened up the expenses with it. If we are sitting here in six months and the NII growth is perhaps better than even this, does your expense guide move or is that kind of baked?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I guess I would look at it slightly differently. I think we're guiding to NII that we think is in line with the current expectations for the flat curve and the growth that we see ahead. I think we're giving you a guide for expenses that recognizes the current trajectory. To the extent that, for example, in particular fee income lines grew, the marginal efficiency ratio on those lines is slightly higher. As both Ramu and I have said in the past, we see the efficiency ratio as an output, but it's one that we tie to additional revenue growth.

To the extent that we are coming in hotter on expenses, as I sit here today, I would think that would only be driven if we came in better on revenue growth.

Chris McGratty: Okay, great. Just coming back to the NIBs, it's 26% on an end of period mix and 25% on average.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Up from 24% too.

Chris McGratty: Exactly. Just want to make sure that the guide assumes what in terms of mix. Similar mix? Any tweak either way?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Yeah, I think we're assuming today, given a flat rate environment, relatively stable mix to our growth trajectory, but that obviously means growing dollar balances as we continue to grow deposits through the end of the year.

Chris McGratty: Okay, great. Thank you.

Operator: The next question will come from Matthew Clark with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Afternoon.

Matthew Clark: Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Wanted to ask about the uptick in C&I criticized. It looks like your C&I reserve was down a little bit, so probably not something you're too concerned about, but anything within that bucket to call out or anything lumpy, and then also just the uptick in CRE non-performers.

Irene Oh: Yeah. Good question. On the C&I criticized loans, we obviously go through a process where we're getting annual financial statements quarterly in some situations, and there were some where there were cash flow reductions, which is why we downgraded those to special mention. With that said, in those same reviews, there are many loans that we upgraded from substandard, and that's why, as you noted, overall, the allowance for C&I, the drivers of those, ultimately the coverage of the amount that we needed was a little bit lower quarter-over-quarter. I think your second question was on CRE in general. Overall, when we look at the CRE non-performing, there were about four loans that moved into non-performing.

I would say we've always taken a very conservative view as far as reserving and charge-offs, and some of those were resolved in the quarter or subsequent to the quarter.

Irene Oh: We don't believe there's a lot of loss content as of 6/30 on a go-forward basis from those that flowed into non-performing.

Matthew Clark: Okay, great. The other one for me, just on M&A, your comment in the deck about disciplined M&A. Can you just remind us of the type of bank or organization you'd ideally want? We've talked about wealth in recent months. I assume you'd want it to have a wealth component in an Asian-American market to some degree, but any updated thoughts on the criteria there?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I think banks generally are sold more so than bought. I think, as Dominic pointed out earlier, when things become known to us, we dive in and we take a good look at evaluating if they make sense. We clearly have been investing on the wealth side of our business. We made significant investments back in an outside asset manager in 2023. We've continued to make investments in people and talent and platforms here more recently. If we could find the right opportunity to invest additional capital behind a wealth platform or a wealth-oriented banking organization, that might be attractive to us, but we just haven't found the right one yet.

From an Asian community banking standpoint, I think it's a relatively small universe.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We know all the players and all the players know us. I think we continue to monitor that market, but there's nothing further to comment on. Dominic?

Dominic Ng: Can't say too much. Yeah.

Matthew Clark: Okay, great. Thank you.

Operator: The next question will come from Janet Lee with TD Cowen. Please go ahead.

Janet Lee: Good afternoon. Just making sure that I'm understanding the NIM dynamics. Outside of any expected move in the Fed, should loan yields decline from the second quarter level through the rest of 2026 from spread compression or mix shift perspective?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We're not seeing spread compression the way we saw it last year. As I sit here today, it wouldn't be spread compression driven. We are seeing some mix shift elements, and so to the extent that, for example, there's less NDFI, which in some cases can be yieldier and more core C&I we would see a potential shift downward. Again, it depends on exactly where those loans originate from. As we sit here today, we would anticipate the margin remains relatively stable given what we see in the pipeline at this point in time.

Janet Lee: Okay. Got it. That assumes that the interest-bearing deposit cost increases from the 2.81% level.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I think that assumes our base level that if there's no Fed funds hike, that our need to be competitive on deposit pricing might step up a tad, but would be offset, we hope, in part, by additional DDA growth as well.

Janet Lee: Right. Got it. Just quick last one. You have no problem growing loans and funding them with deposits. Should we expect the size of your securities portfolio to continue grinding higher, consistent with the pace we've seen in the first half of 2026?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I think we look at our securities portfolio as a reservoir to fund growth. At this point in time, it can be added to the extent deposits exceed loan growth, or it can be detracted to fund loan growth to the extent they don't materialize. Given that we've been able to grow deposits even faster than loans, it has been a net contributor year to date.

Janet Lee: Got it. Thank you.

Operator: The next question will come from Bernard von Gizycki with Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Good afternoon, Bernard.

Bernard von Gizycki: Hey, good afternoon. Just maybe on loan growth. It was broad-based during the quarter, and there was some nice growth in CRE, especially in multifamily and construction. Wondering if those trends during the quarter are expected to continue and you'll still see good growth in those particular areas in the second half of the year?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: We appreciate the growth that we have seen across all the portfolios. We'll continue to be there for our clients, particularly the longstanding, well-tenured, well-experienced developers that are active in today's market. To the extent there are things we can do for them, we're very supportive.

Bernard von Gizycki: Okay. Just as a follow-up, I know the capital deployment priorities were discussed, but just wondering if we could look at the potential Basel III impact versus peers. Unless it's changed, I think previously you mentioned expecting 160 to 180 basis points uptick in capital versus peers who are probably expecting somewhere about 100 basis points increase. Your relative advantage in capital would continue to increase. Would you be more or less inclined or have no impact on lowering your capital levels to similar move down versus some of the larger banks, just on the Basel III impact?

Chris Del Moral-Niles: I think we're focused and very happy to manage the bank around a tangible common equity goal and driving top-quartile returns on tangible capital. As we think about those Basel III impacts, they really don't influence our focus on either TCE or the ROTCE. That having been said, it gives us comfort that our strategy of holding low-risk residential mortgage is a great strategy and one that effectively others have taken notice of by reducing what they see as their risk profile, which we had noticed a long time ago.

Bernard von Gizycki: Great. Thanks for taking my questions.

Chris Del Moral-Niles: Sure.

Operator: This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Dominic Ng for any closing remarks.

Dominic Ng: Thank you. Well, to conclude, as always, our results are a reflection of the dedication and discipline of our team, and I want to thank them for their continued contributions. We remain focused on creating long-term value, and we're looking forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Thank you.

Operator: The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

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