Western Alliance Bancorporation Common Stock (DE)

Good day, everyone. Welcome to Western Alliance Bank Corporation's fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings call. You may also view the presentation today via webcast through the company's website at www.westernalliancebankcorporation.com. I would now like to turn the call over to Myles Pondelik, Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Development. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Welcome to Western Alliance Bank's Paul Hebert, Norcal PTAC, he or he doesn't need to be on the call. Paul Hebert, Norcal PTAC, he or he doesn't need to be on the call. Paul Hebert, Norcal PTAC, he or he doesn't need to be on the call. For more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results that differ materially from any forward-looking statements, please refer to the company's SEC filings, including the Form 8K of yesterday, which are available on the company's website. Now, for opening remarks, I'd like to turn the call over to Ken Vecchione.

Thank you, Miles. Good afternoon, everyone. I'll make some brief comments about our fourth quarter and full year 2025 performance before handing the call over to our new Chief Financial Officer, Vishal Adani. to discuss our financial results and drivers in more detail. I'll then close our prepared remarks by reviewing our 2026 outlook. Dale Gibbons, now backed by popular demand, and our new chief banking officer for deposit initiatives and innovation, and Tim Bruckner will join us for Q&A. Western lines closed 2025 with strong momentum, delivering record quarterly financial results and broad-based performance across the franchise. We saw robust loan growth, reduced seasonal deposit outflows, positive net interest income trends, stable NIM, rising fee income, and continued expansion in PPNR, all while maintaining steady asset quality and demonstrating meaningful operating leverage. In the fourth quarter, net interest income, net revenue, and PPNR all reached record levels. EPS for the quarter was $2.59 up 33% from prior year. Return on average assets were 1.23%. Return on average tangible common equity was 16.9%. And tangible book value per share rose 17% year over year to $61.29. For the full year, we generated diversified HFI loan growth of $5 billion, or 9% across regional banking and our specialized C&I verticals. Deposits increased $10.8 billion, or 16%, supported by strong regional banking inflows and approximately 40% growth in our specialty escrow businesses, which Dale is now leading. The editor's income rose 8.4% on a linked quarter annualized basis, driven by loan growth and higher average earning assets and accompanied by a stable margin. We continue to build momentum in commercial banking fees. Cross-selling treasury management, commercial products, and digital escrow disbursement services drove a 77% increase in service charges and fees in 2025. Q4 mortgage banking revenues did not experience a large seasonal decline and hence were only down $5 million compared to prior quarter. Our jurist banking team delivered a standout quarter, completing the first round of more than 17 million digital payments in connection with the Facebook Cambridge Analytica consumer data privacy settlement, the largest in U.S. history, demonstrating the power of our comprehensive disbursement platform. Mortgage banking fundamentals continue to firm and quarterly results exceeded expectations despite typical seasonal softness. We are constructive on this business heading into 2026 due to the current administration's focus on delivering affordable home ownership potential capital relief on MSRs, and continued mortgage rate reductions, which point to stronger results for this business. Operating leverage was a major theme in 2025, with net revenue growth outpacing non-interest expense growth by four times. Our multi-year investments to prepare for large financial institution status are serving us well, and even if the Category 4 threshold remains unchanged, We expect to cross $100 billion in assets by year end 2026 without a notable step up in expenses. Asset quality remained steady in Q4 with total criticized assets declining by $8 million and staying well below mid-year levels. We are working to proactively resolve non-equivalent balances with meaningful improvement expected by the end of the second quarter. We expect net charge-offs to remain elevated in the first half of the year as we work through non-accrual loans with reserves adjusting modestly as our mix shifts towards higher return C&I growth. However, these actions reinforce the strength of our credit discipline and should enhance our powerful risk-adjusted earnings engine supported by an expanding revenue base and operating leverage. We are well positioned for 2026 and excited about our organic growth opportunities. With that, Vishal will now walk you through our results in more detail.