Origin Bancorp (OBK)·Q4 2025 Earnings Summary
Origin Bancorp Smashes Q4: EPS Beats by 38% as ROAA Hits 1.19%
January 29, 2026 · by Fintool AI Agent
Origin Bancorp (NYSE: OBK) delivered a blowout Q4 2025, with diluted EPS of $0.95 crushing the $0.69 consensus estimate by 38% . The Louisiana-based regional bank posted net income of $29.5 million, up an astounding 242% from Q3 2025's $8.6 million, which had been depressed by $28.4 million in fraud-related charge-offs . The star of the show: record net interest income of $86.7 million and NIM expansion to 3.73%—the highest level since Q4 2022 .
Did Origin Bancorp Beat Earnings?
Decisively. Origin delivered on both the top and bottom line:
*Consensus estimate from S&P Global
The massive earnings beat reflects two dynamics: (1) the Q3 2025 base was artificially depressed by the Tricolor Holdings fraud, and (2) genuine operating momentum with NIM expanding and credit normalizing .
Key Operating Metrics
Ask Fintool AI AgentWhat Did Management Guide?
CEO Drake Mills raised the bar on the Optimize Origin initiative. Having exceeded the original 1%+ ROAA target, management updated guidance:
2026 Financial Outlook
Assumes two 25-bp Fed cuts in 2026
Key quote from CEO Drake Mills:
"I believe there is more opportunity before us than at any other time in my career. Origin is officially on the offensive."
"I am proud of our team and the results we delivered throughout the year. We have a tremendous amount of momentum as we remain focused on Optimize Origin and delivering long-term growth and value for our stakeholders."
How Did the Stock React?
OBK shares traded at $40.71 on January 28, 2026—down 0.9% on the day the results were announced . The stock is trading near its 52-week high of $42.86, reflecting the strong operating momentum already priced in heading into the quarter.
Stock Performance Context
The stock has rallied 41% from its 52-week low, reflecting investor confidence in the Optimize Origin turnaround and NIM expansion story.
What Changed From Last Quarter?
The Q4 2025 results mark a dramatic rebound from Q3 2025's fraud-impacted quarter:
Credit Quality Normalization
The Tricolor Holdings LLC borrower fraud that drove $28.4M in charge-offs last quarter is now largely behind the company . Management noted they are "pursuing all possible opportunities for recovery" .
NIM Expansion Continues
NIM-FTE expanded 8 bps to 3.73%, driven by:
- Deposit cost improvement: Cost of total deposits fell 26 bps to 2.20%
- Asset repricing lag: Fed cuts flowing through liabilities faster than assets
- Mix shift: 61% of loans are floating/variable rate
The yield on interest-bearing liabilities fell 26 bps while the yield on earning assets declined only 13 bps—a positive spread dynamic .
Ask Fintool AI AgentBalance Sheet Highlights
Loan Growth
Loan growth was led by C&I and owner-occupied CRE, the core relationship lending categories. The mortgage warehouse line, which is more volatile, contributed to headline growth but is excluded from management's growth targets .
Deposit Trends
Note: Origin sold $215M of interest-bearing deposits on December 31, 2025, which were immediately repurchased on January 2, 2026. Excluding this transaction, deposits would have been $8.52B, up 2.3% QoQ .
Capital and Shareholder Returns
Capital Ratios (Estimated Q4 2025)
Shareholder Returns
- Dividend: $0.15 per share declared, payable February 27, 2026
- Q4 Buybacks: 49,358 shares at avg. $38.77
- 2025 YTD Buybacks: 451,005 shares at avg. $35.05
- Remaining Authorization: $38.6M
Book Value Growth
Tangible book value per share growth of 11.7% YoY reflects strong earnings retention and improved AOCI as unrealized bond losses declined $52M from year-ago levels .
Notable Items & One-Time Impacts
Q4 2025 included several notable items totaling -$0.04 EPS impact :
The subordinated debt redemption ($74M) was part of the Optimize Origin balance sheet optimization initiative .
Ask Fintool AI AgentGeographic & Franchise Highlights
Origin operates 56+ locations across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Southeast . The Texas franchise represents 71% of loans and 52% of deposits .
Texas Market Breakdown
Management highlighted strong migration trends into Texas and the Southeast, with Texas adding 146,300 nonfarm jobs from November 2024 to November 2025—#1 in the nation .
Q&A Highlights: M&A Disruption as "Generational Opportunity"
The earnings call Q&A focused heavily on Origin's strategy to capitalize on M&A-driven disruption across its Texas, Louisiana, and Southeast markets. Management struck an aggressively optimistic tone.
Hiring Offensive
President Lance Hall detailed the hiring push:
"We've added more than 10 production bankers in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth... This investment in disruption is a major strategic focus for 2026. Our guidance assumes we'll invest roughly $10 million in new bankers and banking teams throughout this year."
The new hires include 2 private bankers, 3 treasury management officers, and the remainder C&I lenders . Management expects a 12-15 month earnback period on these investments .
Data-Driven Decision Making
CFO Wally Wallace highlighted the transformation in how Origin uses data:
"We're just a different company than we were two and a half years ago because of our access to meaningful and actionable data... Just last year, the average ROA of our bankers' portfolios increased by 26 basis points."
Management noted they've reduced the commercial banking team by nearly 25% since Optimize Origin began—not to cut costs, but to reinvest in higher-performing producers .
Loan Growth Dynamics
The Q4 quarter showed encouraging signs:
- Highest loan originations in 2+ years
- Lowest payoffs/paydowns in 2 years
- Loan originations up 37% YoY (~$500M)
CEO Drake Mills emphasized discipline over raw growth:
"I think we could sit here and grow 15%-20%. When we look at our ROA hurdles and what it takes to make a relationship profitable to the point that it accelerates that, that's where our focus is."
NIM Expectations
Management expects slight Q1 margin compression before expansion:
"Our bankers have been very disciplined... we moved deposits on day one [of Fed cuts]. For the floating-rate loans, those loans don't reprice until their next billing cycle... So we've already got the benefit of the deposit reset, but the loan pricing will come down on a slight lag."
Asset repricing tailwinds for 2026:
- $150M securities rolling off at 50-75 bps spread pickup
- $350-400M loans maturing at 4.8% yield, repricing to low-to-mid 6s
Expense Guidance Details
CFO Wallace provided granular Q1 expense outlook:
"Think about a $64 million expense run rate ± $1 million in the first quarter, assuming we close this [technology contract] negotiation in the first quarter and book that fee."
Liquidity & Deposit Position
A notable achievement: Origin has zero brokered deposits after growing core deposits enough to replace all brokered funding . Louisiana deposits grew 14% at the lowest cost of any market in the footprint .
Ask Fintool AI AgentForward Catalysts & Risks
Catalysts
- Continued NIM expansion: Management guides 3.75% +/- 5 bps, suggesting upside if deposit repricing continues
- ROAA improvement: Path from 1.19% toward top quartile peer levels; management explicitly rejected analyst view that ROA stagnates in 2027
- Texas growth: Benefiting from corporate relocations and population migration; M&A disruption creating hiring opportunities
- Credit normalization: Fraud impacts largely behind the company
- Accelerating loan growth: New banker hires expected to drive growth acceleration into 2027
Risks
- Rate sensitivity: 61% floating/variable loans will reprice lower with Fed cuts
- CRE concentration: Office (5.0%) and retail (8.5%) exposure warrants monitoring
- Asset quality: NPL ratio of 1.06% is elevated vs. pre-pandemic levels
- $10B asset threshold: Total assets at $9.72B approaching Durbin Amendment threshold
Conference Call Summary
Origin hosted its Q4 2025 earnings call on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 8:00 AM CT. Key participants included CEO Drake Mills, President Lance Hall, CFO Wally Wallace, and Chief Credit Officer Jim Crotwell.
The call struck an optimistic tone, with management characterizing the M&A disruption in their markets as a "generational opportunity" . Analysts from Stephens, Raymond James, KBW, Piper Sandler, and D.A. Davidson participated in Q&A.
- Replay: Available at origin.bank/investor-relations