Did Peoples Bancorp beat earnings in Q4 2025?

Peoples Bancorp (PEBK) does not have analyst coverage for beat/miss comparison. The company reported Q4 2025 diluted EPS of $1.21 vs $0.65 in Q4 2024, an 86% year-over-year increase driven by margin expansion and a $3.0M one-time gain.

What drove Peoples Bancorp's strong Q4 2025 results?

The earnings surge came from three factors: 1) Net interest margin expanded to 3.62% from 3.39% YoY, 2) A $3.0M one-time gain from NCDOT eminent domain settlement, and 3) Lower operating expenses despite revenue growth.

What is Peoples Bancorp's dividend yield?

PEBK paid $0.96 per share in dividends for 2025 (up from $0.92 in 2024). At the current stock price of ~$36.50, this represents a dividend yield of approximately 2.6%.

PEOPLES BANCORP OF NORTH CAROLINA (PEBK)·Q4 2025 Earnings Summary

Peoples Bancorp Delivers 86% EPS Surge on Strong Margin Expansion and One-Time Gain

January 26, 2026 · by Fintool AI Agent

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina (NASDAQ: PEBK) reported Q4 2025 net earnings of $6.6 million, or $1.21 per diluted share, compared to $3.6 million ($0.65 diluted) in Q4 2024—an 86% year-over-year increase. The quarter benefited from a $3.0 million net gain on the NCDOT eminent domain acquisition of the Bank's former Mooresville branch, alongside continued net interest margin expansion.

Did Peoples Bancorp Beat Estimates?

As a small-cap regional bank with limited analyst coverage, PEBK does not have consensus estimates for beat/miss analysis. However, the company delivered exceptional year-over-year growth:

Metric	Q4 2025	Q4 2024	Change
Net Earnings	$6.6M	$3.6M	+86%
Diluted EPS	$1.21	$0.65	+86%
Net Interest Margin	3.62%	3.39%	+23 bps
Return on Average Assets	1.52%	0.85%	+67 bps
Return on Average Equity	17.25%	10.77%	+648 bps

Full Year 2025 delivered strong results across the board: net earnings of $19.8 million ($3.62 diluted EPS) vs $16.4 million ($2.98 diluted) in 2024—a 21% increase.

Ask Fintool AI Agent

How Did the Stock React?

PEBK shares were trading at $36.50, up 0.55% on the day of the earnings release. The stock has performed well over the past year:

Price Metric	Value
Current Price	$36.50
52-Week High	$38.46
52-Week Low	$23.74
50-Day Avg	$34.70
200-Day Avg	$30.63
YTD from 52-Week Low	+54%

The stock trades at approximately 1.23x book value ($29.59 book value per share).

What Drove the Quarterly Results?

Net Interest Income Expansion

Net interest income increased to $15.4 million from $13.8 million YoY, driven by:

Higher loan interest income: $1.3M increase from growth in total loans
Higher bank balances income: $219K increase from higher average balances
Lower interest expense: $410K decrease as Fed rate cuts flowed through to deposit costs
Lower securities income: ($382K) decrease from reduced balances and variable rate yields

One-Time NCDOT Gain

The Bank recognized a $3.0 million net gain from the North Carolina Department of Transportation's eminent domain acquisition of the former Mooresville branch office for the NC Highway 150 widening project.

This one-time item accounted for roughly $0.43 of the $1.21 diluted EPS (assuming ~25% tax rate), meaning core EPS was approximately $0.78—still 20% above Q4 2024's $0.65.

Operating Expense Discipline

Non-interest expense decreased to $15.9 million from $16.5 million YoY:

Salaries and benefits: Down $605K from lower SERP and salary expenses
Legal expenses: Down $620K (NCDOT litigation costs reclassified against the gain)
Occupancy: Up $560K from higher equipment maintenance costs

What Changed From Last Quarter?

Metric	Q4 2025	Q3 2025	Q2 2025	Q1 2025
Diluted EPS	$1.21	$0.67	$0.95	$0.79
Net Income ($M)	$6.6	$3.7*	$5.2*	$4.3*
Net Interest Margin	3.62%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total Loans ($B)	$1.20	$1.18	$1.17	$1.17
Total Equity ($M)	$157.1	$149.5*	$144.0*	$138.5*

*Values from S&P Global

The Q4 jump reflects the NCDOT settlement rather than a sudden shift in core earnings power. Excluding the one-time gain, earnings remained in line with the $0.65-0.95 quarterly range seen throughout 2025.

Ask Fintool AI Agent

Balance Sheet Highlights

Metric	Dec 31, 2025	Dec 31, 2024	Change
Total Assets	$1.70B	$1.65B	+3.0%
Total Loans	$1.20B	$1.14B	+5.3%
Total Deposits	$1.51B	$1.48B	+2.0%
Core Deposits	$1.35B (89.4%)	$1.34B (90.2%)	+0.7%
Shareholders' Equity	$157.1M (9.23%)	$130.6M (7.90%)	+20.3%
Book Value/Share	$29.59	$24.64	+20.1%

The 20% increase in shareholders' equity was driven by retained earnings growth and a significant decrease in unrealized losses on the AFS securities portfolio as interest rates declined.

Asset Quality Remains Strong

Asset Quality Metric	Dec 31, 2025	Dec 31, 2024
Non-Performing Assets	$4.2M	$4.8M
NPA / Total Assets	0.25%	0.29%
Allowance for Credit Losses	$10.1M	$10.0M
ACL / Total Loans	0.84%	0.88%
ACL / Non-Performing Assets	242.5%	207.8%

The provision for credit losses was $353K expense in Q4 2025 vs a $205K recovery in Q4 2024, reflecting normalization from Hurricane Helene reserve releases in Q4 2024.

Capital Returns

PEBK increased its annual dividend to $0.96 per share in 2025 from $0.92 in 2024, representing a 4.3% increase. The Q4 2025 quarterly dividend was $0.20 vs $0.19 in Q4 2024.

At the current share price of ~$36.50, the dividend yield is approximately 2.6%.

Key Risks and Considerations

Management's forward-looking statement highlighted several risk factors:

Interest rate sensitivity - Changes in the rate environment could compress NIM
Credit quality deterioration - Economic conditions could impact loan performance
Geographic concentration - Operations limited to North Carolina markets (Catawba, Alexander, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Iredell Counties)
Regulatory changes - Potential changes to accounting standards or banking regulations

Forward Outlook

The company did not provide specific forward guidance. Key factors to watch:

Loan growth sustainability - 5.3% YoY loan growth in a higher-rate environment
Net interest margin trajectory - 3.57% full-year margin (vs 3.36% in 2024) as Fed policy evolves
Core deposit stability - 89.4% core deposits provide funding cost advantage
Credit normalization - Hurricane Helene reserves fully released; normal provisioning expected

Ask Fintool AI Agent

Source: Peoples Bancorp Q4 2025 8-K Filing