Five Star Bancorp - Earnings Call - Q3 2025

Executive Summary

• Strong sequential and year-over-year performance: diluted EPS rose to $0.77 (+13% q/q; +48% y/y), with NIM expanding to 3.56% and efficiency ratio improving to 40.13%.
• Estimates context: EPS beat S&P Global consensus ($0.77 vs $0.708), while S&P-defined revenue missed ($38.8M vs $40.3M) — driven by loan growth and NIM expansion but offset by lower-than-consensus “Revenue” classification.
• Funding mix improved: non-wholesale deposits grew $359.0M while wholesale deposits fell $150.2M; cost of funds declined 2 bps to 2.51%.
• Balance sheet growth remained robust: loans HFI +$129.2M q/q and deposits +$208.8M q/q; CET1 at 10.77%, well above requirements.
• Near-term catalysts: management expects modest deposit growth (1–2%) in Q4, continued NIM expansion (1–3 bps), and ~+$0.85M quarterly NII sensitivity per 25 bps rate cut once fully repriced.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Core funding improved materially: non‑wholesale deposits +$359.0M q/q; wholesale deposits −$150.2M; cost of funds fell to 2.51% and NIM expanded 3 bps to 3.56%.
• Bay Area expansion accelerating: deposits reached $548.9M with 36 employees; Walnut Creek office opened, supporting continued growth.
• Credit quality remains strong: NPLs stable at 0.05% and ACL/loans ~1.08%; management emphasized conservative underwriting and robust monitoring.
• CEO quote: “Outstanding growth in loans and core deposits… net interest margin increased… efficiency ratio decreased to 40.13%”.

What Went Wrong

• Non‑interest expense increased $854K q/q, driven by salaries/benefits amid hiring; marketing and other operating costs remain elevated y/y.
• Gain on sale of loans dropped to zero this quarter (strategic shift reducing wholesale SBA loan production/sales), reducing non‑interest income leverage.
• Classified loans rose within CRE (substandard increased to $18.6M due to a single special purpose CRE downgrade), though overall NPLs remain low.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Welcome to the Five Star Bancorp third quarter earnings webcast. Please note this is a closed conference call, and you are encouraged to listen via the webcast. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity for those provided with a dial-in number to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Before we get started, we would like to remind you that today's meeting will include some forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, current plans, expectations, events, and industry trends that may affect the company's future operating results and financial position. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and future activities and results may differ materially from these expectations.

For a more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the company's forward-looking statements, please see the company's annual reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31st, 2024, and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31st, 2025, and June 30th, 2025, and in particular, the information set forth in Item 1A, risk factors in those reports. Please refer to slide two of the presentation, which includes disclaimers regarding forward-looking statements, industry data, unaudited financial data, and non-GAAP financial information included in this presentation. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP figures are included in the appendix to the presentation. The presentation will be referenced during this call, but not followed exactly, and is available for close reviewing on the company's website under the Investor Relations tab. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the presentation over to James Beckwith, Five Star Bancorp President and CEO. Please go ahead.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Thank you for joining us to review Five Star Bancorp's financial results for the third quarter of 2025, which were released yesterday. The release is available on our website at fivestarbank.com under the Investor Relations tab. Joining me today is Heather Luck, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our third quarter results include outstanding growth in loans and core deposits attributable to our differentiated client experience and our organic growth strategy. We maintain our unwavering commitment to clients and community partners throughout Northern California. Financial highlights during the third quarter include $16.3 million of net income, earnings per share of $0.77, return on average assets of 1.44%, and return on average equity of 15.35%. Our net interest margin expanded three basis points to 3.56%, and our cost of total deposits declined by two basis points to 2.44%. Our efficiency ratio was 40.13% for the third quarter.

During the third quarter, we saw continued balance sheet growth as loans held for investment grew by $129.2 million, or 14% on an annualized basis. Total deposits increased by approximately $208.8 million, or 21% on an annualized basis. During the quarter, non-wholesale deposits increased by $359 million, or 11%, while wholesale deposits decreased by $150.2 million, or 23%. Our asset quality remains strong, with non-performing loans representing only five basis points of total loans held for investment. We continue to be well-capitalized, with all capital ratios well above regulatory thresholds for the quarter. On October 16th, our board declared a cash dividend of $0.20 per share on the company's common stock, expected to be paid in November. We continue to deliver value to our shareholders.

Our total assets increased during the third quarter by $228.3 million, largely driven by loan growth within the commercial real estate portfolio, which grew by $77.7 million. Our loan pipeline remains strong. The credit quality of loans remains strong due to our conservative underwriting practices, robust monitoring throughout the life of a loan, and our relationship-based approach to lending. As a result, we have a very low volume of non-performing loans, which declined by $149,000 during the third quarter. We recorded a $2.5 million provision for credit losses during the quarter, primarily due to loan growth. The increase of our total liabilities during the third quarter was a result of growth in interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing deposits related to new accounts. The new interest-bearing deposit accounts contributed to $171.6 million of overall growth. New non-interest-bearing deposits contributed to $28.8 million of overall growth.

Non-interest-bearing deposits remained consistent at 26% of total deposits as of September 30th, 2025. Approximately 60% of our deposit relationships total more than $5 million. These deposits have a long tenure with the bank, with an average age of eight years. We believe our deposit portfolio to be a stable funding base for our future growth. I will hand it over to Heather to present the results of operations. Heather?

Heather Luck (CFO)

Thank you, James, and hello everyone. Net interest income increased $2.8 million from the previous quarter, primarily due to a $4.3 million increase in interest income driven by new loan production at higher rates, contributing to overall improvement in the average yield on loans. This was partially offset by a $1.4 million increase in interest expense related to core deposit growth during the quarter of $359 million, which exceeded the $150.2 million of higher-cost wholesale deposits maturing during the quarter. Non-interest income increased to $2 million in the third quarter from $1.8 million in the previous quarter, primarily due to an increase in swap referral fees recognized during the three months ended September 30th, 2025, partially offset by no gain on sale of loans recognized during the quarter in connection with our strategic shift to reduce wholesale SBA loan production and sales.

Non-interest expense grew by $900,000 in the three months ended September 30, 2025. This is primarily due to an increase in salaries and employee benefits related to increased headcount to support customer-facing and back-office operations. We continue to invest in our Bay Area expansion, evidenced by the opening of our newest full-service office in Walnut Creek, contributing to a slight increase in occupancy and equipment. I'll hand it back to James for closing remarks. James?

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Thank you, Heather. During the quarter, we opened our ninth full-service office in Walnut Creek in response to the demand for our services in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our presence in the San Francisco Bay Area continues to grow with 36 employees and $548.9 million in deposits as of September 30th, 2025. In addition to the new Walnut Creek office, we are pleased with the growth of our previously announced food and agribusiness and diversified industry business, where clients benefit from our global trade services and exceptional treasury management tools. Five Star Bank's success serves as strong testimony to clients who value our team of committed professionals who provide authentic, relationship-based service. We continue to ensure our technology stack, operating efficiencies, conservative underwriting practices, exceptional credit quality, and a prudent approach to portfolio management will benefit our customers, employees, community, and shareholders.

As we look to the fourth quarter of 2025, we thank our employees for their outstanding commitment to ensuring Five Star Bank remains a safe, trusted, and steadfast banking partner. We are confident in the company's resilience and demonstrated ability to adapt to changing economic conditions while remaining focused on the future and execution of our long-term strategy. The beneficiaries of our focused business approach are our clients, employees, and community. We believe that if we support these constituents well, our shareholders will realize the benefits. We appreciate your time today. This concludes today's presentation. Now, we will be happy to take questions you might have.

Operator (participant)

We will now begin the question-and answer session. To ask a question, those dialed in may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Questions will be taken in the order received. Our first question today is from David Feaster with Raymond James. Please go ahead.

David Feaster (Director)

Hi, good morning everybody.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Hey David, how are you doing?

David Feaster (Director)

I am great. I wanted to start on the deposit front. In my mind, perhaps the core deposit growth that you saw was one of the most impressive parts about the quarter. You decreased wholesale funding. Just kind of curious where you're having the most success driving core deposit growth, and how you think about that opportunity to continue to optimize the funding base a bit as you do that.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Certainly, third quarter, David, was exceptional. It was a lot of things went our way in terms of new clients, which we're very excited about. We saw growth across our platforms in all of our geographies, so that was very exciting. I think that to replicate that type of quarter again, David, is going to be pretty difficult when you say that. We were pretty happy about where we ended up. Now, you know, our deposit pipeline, just like our loan pipeline, remains strong across all of our platforms and geographies. We don't anticipate that type of growth on a go-forward basis. We're looking for deposit growth on an absolute basis, not annualized, probably anywhere between 1%-2% in the fourth quarter. I think the third quarter was very strong. I say that because we're still trying to deal with our brokered deposits that we have. We have a long-term desire to eliminate those, and we're making progress. We made very substantial progress in the third quarter. We'll just have to see how the fourth quarter goes. That probably will have an impact in terms of limiting overall deposit growth to the extent that we pay any of those off and don't renew, but we are anticipating some growth, but not to the same extent that we saw in the third quarter on the deposit side.

David Feaster (Director)

Okay, the reason for that is just the continued optimization of the deposit base. You're still going to be driving core deposit growth, but using that to pay down broker.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Yeah.

David Feaster (Director)

Okay.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Go ahead.

David Feaster (Director)

Perfect. Maybe switching gears to the loan side. Originations were strong. The pipeline's still robust, but payoffs and paydowns are still a pretty material headwind. I think it's the second highest level that I can see back over the past several years. I wanted to first get a sense of what's driving these payoffs and paydowns. How much is it losing deals to competitors, through refis or whatever, asset sales, or just deleveraging? How do you think about payoff and paydown activity going forward as rates continue to decline? Is that going to remain a pretty material headwind?

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

In part, it's our business model with respect to our MHC and RV park lending business, David. You know, we anticipated being in these deals three to four years before our clients will either sell the properties or take their long-term financing to agency. We saw a lot of that in the third quarter, and we expect that will continue to happen. Having said that, we also retained a lot of these notes that were maturing, not necessarily maturing, but having their rates reset. Because we typically lend on a five-year fixed-rate basis, the rate, the yield will adjust after the 60th month. A lot of that's starting to come through on those originations that were done in 2020, particularly in 2020, and we'll see some more of that in 2021, 2026, and 2027 for originations in 2021 and 2022. It's just really the nature of our business.

There's nothing that we think is unusual about it. We recognize that we have to stay ahead of it. We've got the horses to do that. That's why we will continue to build our balances. We're not necessarily losing deals to anybody. We like to think that we're the quickest gnome in town. If somebody else wants to do a deal, that's fine. We like the model. The model's working exactly as we thought it was going to work. It's just, David, fundamentally the nature of our business and the types of credits that we make.

David Feaster (Director)

That makes sense. With that, you talked about having the team and the horsepower to continue to outpace payoffs and paydowns. You've been really active hiring. You recently hired the ag team. I guess first I wanted to just get an update on where, as you think about growth, where are you seeing the growth opportunity today. Kind of an update on the ag team, what they're seeing, and are there any other segments like that that you might be interested in expanding into organically, and hire or lift out a team. Just kind of curious what you're seeing on that front.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Yeah, you know, let's just talk about the ag team. We booked some good credits. We're anticipating booking some very large credits in the fourth quarter. Very active in the market. We're excited where that business is going. You know, the credits and the relationships are quite substantial. To call them granular would be a complete misnomer. When we board them, they do move the needle because they're larger deals, both on the deposit side and on the loan side. We like where we're doing that. We're making some penetration in markets. People know, are beginning to know that we're serious, and we're excited about, you know, where we stand in that. The sales cycle in that business can be long sometimes, you know, over two or three years, two or three seasons. We're very committed to it, number one.

We continue to see growth in our MHC and RV business. We continue to add core clients in the space, and our clients are still, our existing clients are still buying parks. We're excited about where that business is going. Our storage business seems to be very strong also. You know, RV, MHC, storage is really a national platform. We're doing business across the United States. In fact, Heather, we file, what, tax returns in 27 different states?

Heather Luck (CFO)

We do. That's correct.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

We have Nexus in all these states. It is truly geographically diversified. David, we expect to see continued growth in that particular segment. From a geographic perspective, our Bay Area loan pipeline remains very strong. That is made up of CNI and also CRE lending. We have done a lot of student housing deals in the Berkeley area, and we will continue to look for opportunities there. That is strong. Our construction industries group continues to perform well, and that is primarily a deposit play. We are excited where that business is going. Our faith-based business is having a good year, a very good year. We expect that to continue to grow. Our nonprofit business is very robust, particularly in the Bay Area. We like where that is going.Of course, our government book, in which, David, we focus on small districts, small special districts, if you will, we have seen a lot of success in that space. Again, that is primarily deposit-driven. Across the platform, our verticals and our geographies seem to be performing very well, and their prospects are strong.

David Feaster (Director)

That's very helpful. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

The next question is from Woody Lay with KBW. Please go ahead.

Woody Lay (VP)

Hey, thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to start.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Hey.

Woody Lay (VP)

Hey. Wanted to start on the net interest margin outlook. If I just look at y'all's balance sheet, it would seem that y'all are set up pretty well for a down rate environment. How should we think, based on the most recent cut and the expectation for additional cuts from here? How should we think about the earnings power there?

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

We think it's pretty good. You know, we recognize we have a near-term, we're near-term liability sensitive. That could, you know, 125 basis point cut, Heather, over a quarter would mean, what?

Heather Luck (CFO)

About $850,000 of improvement.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

We see some expansion in our margin that's potential in the fourth quarter, one to three basis points, pretty consistent with what we've seen in the second or the third quarter. Maybe we can do a little bit better than that, but that's kind of what our sense of it is right now. We continue to see loan repricings in our loan portfolio. Sooner or later, we're going to run out of that as all those loans reset. In the near-term, it looks pretty decent for us. We see continued margin expansion with these rate cuts. You could tell Woody that our cost of funds is noticeably higher than our peers, and that's because we do pay up for deposits. In a down rate environment, that's going to be to our benefit, not only in our money market book, but also in our government book, and to some extent in our wholesale CD book. We like the way that our balance sheet is constructed in a slight downward, down rate environment.

Woody Lay (VP)

Yeah, it definitely seems like a benefit. To the extent we get these additional rate cuts, get the NIM benefit, do you think it drives positive operating leverage, or does it give an opportunity to keep reinvesting in some of the, you know, in the Bay Area expansion market and some of these new business lines? How do you think about the toggle there?

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

We've been pretty active in terms of bringing on very talented yet high-priced bankers. Our plans on a go-forward basis, right now with Heather, we got 41 biz dev people right now. We're going to have a new one join us next week. We're going to continue to look for opportunities to get talent because it's out there. It's still out there, maybe not out there to the same extent as it was two years or even a year ago. We like to think we've got this balance between earnings growth and reinvesting back into our business. The toggle is not one way or the other. We like to think we can do both. We recognize that if we didn't continue to invest, our earnings would probably be bigger, larger. We're playing the long game here in terms of growing the franchise and taking advantage of opportunities as we see them when they come up. We've always been opportunistic, and I don't see us changing that way of doing business.

Woody Lay (VP)

No, that's really helpful. Just last for me, can you just remind me longer-term how you think about the loan-to-deposit ratio? I mean, it's down from 104% last year. There's some brokered deposit remix opportunities. Could you just remind us sort of where you aim to target that longer-term?

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

I think that, you know, we're comfortable at 95%. That's kind of a line that we all look at every month with our board. You know, that's a good target for us. Sometimes it might be higher. Sometimes it might be less. I don't know how far less, but if there was a bias, it'd probably be higher. We do target 95% as something where we're comfortable at. You know, running, you can run hot at, you know, 100% or north of 100%, but that's nothing that we think that we'd want to do year in and year out.

Woody Lay (VP)

Got it. All right. Thanks for taking my questions. Congrats on the good quarter.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Thanks so much.

Operator (participant)

The next question is from Andrew Terrell with Stephens. Please go ahead.

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Hey, good morning.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Hey, Andrew.

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Maybe Heather, I wanted to go back to some of the margin really quick. I think, did you say $850,000 positive pickup for each 25 basis point cut? Was that right?

Heather Luck (CFO)

Yeah, for the full quarter though, because it'll take some time for our wholesale book to reprice. It'll take a full quarter to see the full effect. Yeah, immediately, more than 200 for immediate repricing net.

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

I'm just trying to think through the, you mentioned, you know, the margin up one to three in the fourth quarter, $850,000 is, you know, seven, eight basis points of margin. We'll get the full quarter of the September cut in the fourth quarter, and then it looks like in October and maybe a December cut as well that, you know, it feels like the margin should just be up more than one to three basis points. I guess I'm trying to ask, you know, what are maybe some of the puts and takes to the margin in the fourth quarter that could limit what feels like should be a decent bias higher?

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

I'm going to weigh in on this if you don't mind, Heather. Andrew, in our government deposit book, it's driven by LAIF, Local Area Investment Fund rates, and those change every month. You really don't see an impact of a Fed move until 90 days. You probably get the whole impact at the end of that quarter or those 90 days. That's a lagging index. This is why we came up with the margin of improvement. On our wholesale CD book, which is around $500 million, those usually are 90-day resets. You're not going to see the impact of that until the full impact, a quarterly impact if you will, for 90 days.

Heather Luck (CFO)

Yeah.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

They're all kind of, they're not all maturing at the same time. That impact kind of rolls in during a quarter. The number or the guidance that we gave you, that Heather gave you, is really like a clean, okay, what happens at this cut, maybe a quarter down the road, what's the impact going to be? Does that make sense?

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Yeah, I understand. It's based on the maturity of the deposits, and once you kind of fully get those through, that would get you to the $850 million?

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Correct.

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Okay.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Yes, sir.

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Got it. Do you have handy just the spot interest-bearing deposit cost at $930 million?

Heather Luck (CFO)

Yeah, that was 240 million.

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

$240 million, okay, $240 million total. Gotcha. On the page 22 disclosure around the adjustable rate repricing, I appreciate you guys adding that in there. The $363 million of adjustables that come up in 2026 are at a 4.35% rate today. If those were to reprice in today's rate environment, where would the new yields be at? I'm just trying to gauge that repricing benefit to the margin, James, that we've talked about. It seems like it'd be a pretty decent tailwind.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Yeah, it's probably around 1.80%-2.00% over that. It's really, you know, our spreads are usually 2.75%-3.25%. You look at the five-year today, it's 3%, and what was it? 3%, what was it? 3.50%?

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

3.61%.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

3.61%, and add that on top of it. That's kind of where I think it would end up.

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Okay. gotcha.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

There's a pretty decent pickup. Yeah.

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Right, right.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Pretty decent pickup.

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Okay. Last one for me, James, we're seeing quite an acceleration in M&A, maybe not as much in California as in other geographies. You've got what's a pretty strong currency now, with the stock prices trading. Just talk about your views on M&A. I know you've obviously got a very healthy organic growth engine, probably not pressed for M&A, but just talk about your views on the landscape right now.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

It was a pretty active Monday, I'll say that much, with First Foundation trading. They have some operations up and around us. The big deal was when Cadence sold out. I go to these conferences, Andrew, and I know these CEOs, and they made a decision to sell. From an M&A perspective, where we sit, we've grown, I don't know, $600 million so far this year, Andrew. That used to be the size of a bank in California. I think the average size in California is probably $1 billion now, right? We've been pretty, we don't need to buy anybody per se. There could be opportunities that are out there, and we always want to be able to take advantage of something that comes up. Is it, we lean organic, most definitely. We lean organic.

As we continue to grow and develop, we become, especially where our valuation is right now, a more fit, more able acquirer. There is nothing on the horizon for us right now. We're going into our planning session here in November, and certainly this is always a topic of conversation. Where we sit on it is that we could be, we could do something, but it'd have to be just a great deal for us and very opportunistic and deal with something that we feel like we need, maybe a little help on. If we need a little help with anything, it's probably the granularity on our deposit side, and then a lower cost of funds, if you will. Somebody who's got a lot of non-interest-bearing deposits. We're doing fine there. We're seeing very solid growth in that particular line item in our liabilities. I've been, I'm all over the map on this response, but we're really driving what we're doing right now organically. None of our board wants to rule out an M&A deal. That's kind of where we sit.

Andrew Terrell (Managing Director and Research Analyst)

Yeah, great. I appreciate the color. Yeah, high bar, growing $600 million this year. Great work, and thanks for taking the questions.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Again, if you have a question, please press star, then one. The next question is from Gary Tenner with D.A. Davidson. Please go ahead.

Gary Tenner (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Thanks. Good morning. I had another question just on the, as you were going through some of the deposit buckets and so forth. Just on the money market book, what type of beta were you able to push through when we had the September cut, and what are your expectations, I guess, for a cut this week?

Heather Luck (CFO)

Yeah, when we did that, we were about 30% beta.

Gary Tenner (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Overall?

Heather Luck (CFO)

Yeah, overall.

Gary Tenner (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Overall.

Heather Luck (CFO)

26%. Yeah, yeah.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

We'll tell you, Gary, we're going to take any deposit relationship that's outside of our CD book that's priced 225 basis points and higher. On that day, we're going to take a 100% cut on those deposits. That equates to around.

Heather Luck (CFO)

1.4 billion.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

$1.4 billion. Certain types of accounts like high-yield money market accounts are going to have 100% beta, but overall, it's.

Heather Luck (CFO)

About 30.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

About 30?

Heather Luck (CFO)

Yeah.

Gary Tenner (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Okay. For instance, in that money market book, then, about 75% beta, I guess, effectively, if you, because most of that $1.4 billion of higher-yielding non-CDs would be in that book, right?

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Yes, sir.

Gary Tenner (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Okay, great. On the topic of expansion and hiring, are you seeing it becoming more competitive and more challenging to recruit? Are there more banks in your footprint following that playbook now? I mean, we're seeing it in other regions of the country where, like, every bank in the Southeast is on these massive recruiting strategies. Are you seeing that pick up and become more competitive by you?

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Yeah, we are, and so, you know, it all depends on what, whose platform is out there recruiting. A lot of the folks that we compete against don't have our performance, don't have our reputation in the marketplace. We think we've got a competitive edge there when we do go up against people and folks in, for, you know, bringing on experienced bankers. We think if we really want somebody, we'll be able to get them, but it is more competitive, most certainly. There are options, and if people are looking to grow, and if they can pick up a team, it seems like more folks are doing it.

Now, having said that, these bankers, and this is a phenomenon that's probably not unique to California, are very expensive, and especially with folks that have been through a process for the last two, three years, that have banks that have either been taken over, excuse me, failed or taken over, or are just flat struggling in terms of trying to rationalize the investments they're making in these folks here in California. We see some opportunity coming out of that space, but you know, what's happened is that these bankers have been bid up. You have to be very careful of how much you want to pay, and you have to rationalize what are they going to be able to do for you. Those are the equations or the economics that we go through when we're thinking about picking up a team. To answer your basic question, the answer is yes, it is more competitive.

Gary Tenner (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Very well, I appreciate the extended thoughts on that. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.

James Beckwith (President and CEO)

Thank you. It is with deep appreciation and gratitude that we have advocated for our clients and championed the communities we serve. We always will. As our expansion in the San Francisco Bay Area continues, and as we build upon a legacy of superior community banking in the Capital Region and North State, we answer the call of businesses and organizations who desire a time-honored banking partner. Five Star Bancorp is here to stay. We are proud to have experienced another quarter of significant organic growth built upon a sturdy foundation of client service, expanded relationships and products, and the loyalty of our exceptional clients. We will always remember that we exist because of our clients' trust in us, and we believe in them. It is our privilege to continue as a driving force of economic development, a trusted resource for our clients, and a committed advocate for our communities.We look forward to speaking with you again in January to discuss earnings for the fourth quarter of 2025. Have a great day, and thank you for listening.

Operator (participant)

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