$250b+ Banks

Return on assets for $250B+ banks reached 1.15% in Q1 2026, up 4 basis points from 1.11% in Q4 2025 and 10 basis points from 1.05% in Q1 2025. The YoY gain of 10 bps is the strongest profitability improvement in the series shown, though the QoQ move of 4 bps indicates the expansion is decelerating. The cohort's ROA remains 5 basis points below the national benchmark of 1.20%, a gap that has persisted across the periods shown. All 100 institutions in the $250B+ cohort reported positive ROA in Q1 2026, with individual-bank profitability ranging from 0.62% to 1.65% and a mean of 1.15%. The distribution is tight, suggesting profitability is broadly shared rather than concentrated in a handful of outliers.

Net interest margin widened to 2.69% in Q1 2026, up 22 basis points from 2.47% in Q4 2025 and 19 bps from 2.50% in Q1 2025. The QoQ expansion of 22 bps exceeds the YoY expansion of 19 bps, indicating NIM improvement is accelerating, not stabilizing. However, the $250B+ cohort's NIM remains 1.12 percentage points below the national 3.82%, the widest gap among the major metrics shown. The NIM deficit is structural: individual-bank NIM ranges from 1.24% to 8.35%, with a mean of 3.05%. The aggregate 2.69% is asset-weighted and compressed by the largest institutions; the per-bank mean of 3.05% is closer to the national average but still trails by 77 bps. The efficiency ratio held stable at 55.89%, up just 3 basis points QoQ from 55.86% but down 2.02 points YoY from 57.91%. The $250B+ cohort's efficiency ratio sits 8.25 percentage points below the national 64.14%, indicating superior cost discipline relative to the broader industry.

The profitability story is mixed: ROA is improving but trails the national average, NIM is widening but from a structurally lower base, and efficiency is stable and industry-leading. The detected-stories block flags a tension: efficiency is stable while growth is accelerating, suggesting these banks are scaling revenue without proportional expense growth. Credit Card specialists within the $250B+ cohort post outsized NIM at 13.80%, 9.99 percentage points above the national 3.82%, and efficiency at 54.43%, 9.71 points below national 64.14%. Mortgage specialists trail on efficiency at 76.96%, 12.81 points above national. If NIM continues its current quarterly pace of expansion (22 bps per quarter over the two quarters shown), the $250B+ cohort will approach the national average within five quarters.

Asset growth for $250B+ banks accelerated to 17.15% in Q1 2026, up from 6.57% in Q4 2025 and 0.94% in Q1 2025, representing a 1,725-percentage-point acceleration year-over-year and a 161-point acceleration quarter-over-quarter. The YoY acceleration is the most dramatic in the series shown, transforming the cohort from near-stagnation in Q1 2025 to double-digit expansion in Q1 2026. The $250B+ cohort's asset growth of 17.15% exceeds the national average of 5.15% by 11.99 percentage points, the widest gap among the major metrics shown. The distribution is broad: 87.5% of $250B+ banks are growing assets, with individual-bank asset growth ranging from -5.7% to 66.88% and a mean of 17.15%. The 12.5% of institutions shrinking assets are a small minority, and the mean matches the aggregate, indicating the expansion is not driven by a handful of outliers.

Loan growth accelerated to 18.85% in Q1 2026, up from 11.06% in Q4 2025 and 3.22% in Q1 2025, representing a 485-percentage-point acceleration YoY and a 71-point acceleration QoQ. The loan-growth pace of 18.85% exceeds the national 6.20% by 12.65 percentage points, the largest spread in the series shown. Deposit growth accelerated to 14.85%, up from 6.42% in Q4 2025 and 0.69% in Q1 2025, a 2,055-point acceleration YoY and a 131-point acceleration QoQ. Deposit growth of 14.85% exceeds the national 5.02% by 9.83 percentage points. The loan-deposit growth spread of 4 percentage points (18.85% loans versus 14.85% deposits) is mechanically compressing liquidity and driving the LDR expansion documented in the engagement section. The distribution confirms the breadth: 87.5% of $250B+ banks are growing loans, with individual-bank loan growth ranging from -3.95% to 68.6%.

The growth story is unambiguous: $250B+ banks are expanding balance sheets at the fastest pace in the series shown, outpacing the national average by double digits on assets, loans, and deposits. The acceleration is broad-based rather than concentrated, with nearly 90% of institutions participating. Commercial banks within the $250B+ cohort account for 56.1% of institutions and posted ROA of 1.20% and NIM of 3.92%, suggesting the growth is concentrated in commercial lending rather than consumer or mortgage portfolios. Agricultural banks, representing 21.3% of the cohort, posted ROA of 1.37% and NIM of 3.84%, trailing Commercial specialists but outperforming on profitability. If asset growth continues at the current 17.15% annual pace, the $250B+ cohort will double in size within four years.

The delinquency rate for $250B+ banks rose to 0.92% in Q1 2026, up 6 basis points from 0.86% in Q4 2025 but down 5 bps from 0.97% in Q1 2025. The QoQ increase of 6 bps marks the first quarterly rise in the series shown, reversing a multi-quarter improvement trend, while the YoY decline of 5 bps indicates the longer-term trajectory remains favorable. The $250B+ cohort's delinquency rate of 0.92% sits 22 basis points above the national 0.70%, the widest spread among the risk metrics shown. Individual-bank delinquency ranges from 0.09% to 1.76%, with a mean of 0.92%, indicating the aggregate is not distorted by outliers. The QoQ uptick suggests credit quality is stabilizing after a period of improvement, not deteriorating sharply.

The nonperforming asset ratio held stable at 0.48%, up 5 basis points from 0.44% in Q4 2025 and 2 bps from 0.47% in Q1 2025. Both moves are within the margin of statistical noise, indicating the NPA ratio is effectively flat across the periods shown. The $250B+ cohort's NPA ratio of 0.48% sits 2 basis points below the national 0.51%, a narrow gap that suggests problem-asset levels are aligned with the broader industry. The stability in NPAs despite the delinquency uptick indicates early-stage delinquencies are not yet migrating to nonaccrual status. Tier 1 capital declined to 14.00%, down 1.52 percentage points from 15.52% in Q4 2025 and 0.51 points from 14.51% in Q1 2025. The QoQ decline of 1.52 points is the sharpest in the series shown, driven mechanically by asset growth of 17.15% outpacing capital accumulation. The $250B+ cohort's Tier 1 capital of 14.00% sits 26 basis points below the national 14.26%, the first time in the series shown that the cohort has trailed the national average.

The risk profile is mixed: delinquency is rising QoQ but stable YoY, NPAs are flat, and capital is compressing sharply due to rapid balance-sheet expansion. The Tier 1 capital decline of 1.52 points QoQ is mechanically explained by asset growth of 17.15% in a single quarter; if capital retention from earnings was insufficient to offset the denominator expansion, the ratio falls even if absolute capital dollars rose. Credit Card specialists within the $250B+ cohort post delinquency of 2.57%, 1.87 percentage points above the national 0.70%, consistent with the higher-risk profile of unsecured consumer lending. Agricultural specialists post delinquency of 0.63%, 7 bps below national, suggesting commodity-cycle headwinds have not yet materialized in this cohort. If the current quarterly pace of capital compression continues (1.52 points per quarter), the $250B+ cohort will approach regulatory minimums within several years absent capital raises or slower growth.

The loan-to-deposit ratio for $250B+ banks rose to 58.65% in Q1 2026, marking a 2.97-percentage-point increase from 55.68% in Q4 2025 and a 6.03-point gain from 52.61% in Q1 2025. The YoY expansion is the largest in the series shown, driven by loan growth (18.85% YoY) outpacing deposit growth (14.85% YoY) by 4 percentage points. QoQ, the ratio widened 2.97 points versus 6.03 points YoY, indicating the lending-deposit imbalance is accelerating. Despite this expansion, the $250B+ cohort's LDR remains 17.73 percentage points below the national benchmark of 76.38%, reflecting the structural liquidity surplus characteristic of the largest FDIC-insured banks.

Two ways to measure deposit franchise strength. The noninterest-bearing deposit share rose to 18.60% in Q1 2026, up 3.80 percentage points QoQ from 14.80% and 1.64 points YoY from 16.96%. The QoQ move is more than double the YoY move, suggesting an abrupt shift in deposit mix rather than a gradual trend. The $250B+ cohort's NIB share remains 3.00 percentage points below the national 21.60%, indicating these banks hold a lower proportion of zero-cost funding than the industry average. Net interest income as a percentage of revenue fell sharply to 0.35% from 1.25% in Q4 2025, a 0.91-percentage-point decline QoQ, but remained stable YoY at 0.35%. The QoQ collapse in NII revenue share is mechanically driven by noninterest revenue surging as a share of total revenue, not by net interest income itself contracting.

The engagement story is bifurcated: 81.3% of $250B+ banks are growing deposits, but the remaining 18.8% are declining, with individual-bank deposit growth ranging from -4.34% to 42.23%. The mean deposit growth of 14.85% masks this dispersion. The loan-growth distribution is similarly wide: 87.5% of institutions are expanding loan portfolios, with individual-bank loan growth spanning -3.95% to 68.6%. The largest banks are deploying liquidity aggressively into lending, compressing the traditional liquidity cushion that has defined this cohort. If loan growth continues to outpace deposit growth at the current 4-percentage-point spread, the LDR will approach the national average within eight quarters.