Regional banking company WaFd (NASDAQ: WAFD) fell short of the markets revenue expectations in Q4 CY2025, but sales rose 9.5% year on year to $191.4 million. Its GAAP profit of $0.79 per share was 4.6% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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WaFd Bank (WAFD) Q4 CY2025 Highlights:
- Net Interest Income: $171.1 million vs analyst estimates of $175.1 million (6.3% year-on-year growth, 2.3% miss)
- Net Interest Margin: 2.7% vs analyst estimates of 2.7% (4 basis point miss)
- Revenue: $191.4 million vs analyst estimates of $193.3 million (9.5% year-on-year growth, 1% miss)
- Efficiency Ratio: 55.3% vs analyst estimates of 56.1% (80 basis point beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $0.79 vs analyst estimates of $0.76 (4.6% beat)
- Tangible Book Value per Share: $29.91 vs analyst estimates of $29.83 (7.1% year-on-year growth, in line)
- Market Capitalization: $2.53 billion
Company Overview
Founded in 1917 and rebranded from Washington Federal in 2023, WaFd (NASDAQ: WAFD) is a bank holding company that provides lending, deposit services, and insurance through its Washington Federal Bank subsidiary across eight western states.
Sales Growth
From lending activities to service fees, most banks build their revenue model around two income sources. Interest rate spreads between loans and deposits create the first stream, with the second coming from charges on everything from basic bank accounts to complex investment banking transactions. Regrettably, WaFd Bank’s revenue grew at a tepid 7.3% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This was below our standard for the banking sector and is a tough starting point for our analysis.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. WaFd Bank’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed as its annualized revenue growth of 1.9% over the last two years was below its five-year trend. 
Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.
This quarter, WaFd Bank’s revenue grew by 9.5% year on year to $191.4 million, missing Wall Street’s estimates.
Net interest income made up 92.1% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning WaFd Bank lives and dies by its lending activities because non-interest income barely moves the needle.
Our experience and research show the market cares primarily about a bank’s net interest income growth as non-interest income is considered a lower-quality and non-recurring revenue source.
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Tangible Book Value Per Share (TBVPS)
The balance sheet drives banking profitability since earnings flow from the spread between borrowing and lending rates. As such, valuations for these companies concentrate on capital strength and sustainable equity accumulation potential.
Because of this, tangible book value per share (TBVPS) emerges as the critical performance benchmark. By excluding intangible assets with uncertain liquidation values, this metric captures real, liquid net worth per share. EPS can become murky due to acquisition impacts or accounting flexibility around loan provisions, and TBVPS resists financial engineering manipulation.
WaFd Bank’s TBVPS grew at a decent 5.3% annual clip over the last five years. However, TBVPS growth has recently decelerated to 2.2% annual growth over the last two years (from $28.65 to $29.91 per share).
Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for WaFd Bank’s TBVPS to grow by 6.4% to $31.83, lousy growth rate.
Key Takeaways from WaFd Bank’s Q4 Results
We struggled to find many positives in these results. Its net interest income missed and its revenue fell slightly short of Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this was a weaker quarter. The stock remained flat at $33.69 immediately after reporting.
WaFd Bank underperformed this quarter, but does that create an opportunity to invest right now? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
