This is a Q4 2025 bank screen, not a market-wide ranking. The practical question for bank analysts is narrower: which banks showed large pre-provision net revenue growth without obvious earnings-quality warnings in the same row?
Bottom line: among the examples below, The Bank of Missouri and California Bank of Commerce, N.A. look cleanest on this first-pass screen because both pair PPNR growth above 150% with ROA above 1.6%. American Savings Bank, N.A. and EagleBank show the largest PPNR increases, but their negative ROA makes them caution rows rather than automatic winners.
Pre-provision net revenue, or PPNR, is operating earnings before credit provision expense. Here it is approximated as interest income minus interest expense, plus noninterest income, minus noninterest expense. It follows Call Report income-statement logic, but it is not one official Call Report line item.[1]
How This Screen Was Built
The screen uses Q4 2025 public Call Report data surfaced in Deep Digital Ventures Banking. It is a single-quarter year-over-year comparison: Q4 2025 screened PPNR versus Q4 2024 screened PPNR. It is not trailing-12-month PPNR.
The featured set is intentionally limited to example banks where Q4 2025 PPNR growth was high enough to warrant a follow-up memo. Banks are not excluded solely because ROA is negative; a negative-ROA row can still reveal improving operating capacity, but it must be separated from true earnings strength. One-time items are not adjusted out in the table, which is why the analysis treats large percentage moves as leads to verify rather than conclusions to quote.
Audit trail: use the Call Report income schedule for interest income, interest expense, noninterest income, noninterest expense, and provision expense; average-balance and asset schedules for scale; capital schedules for loss-absorption capacity; loan, past-due, charge-off, allowance, and deposit schedules for credit and funding quality. The FDIC and FFIEC publish the current forms, instructions, and institution filing framework.[2][3]
The Strongest Rows Are Not the Biggest Percentages
The table is sorted by Q4 2025 year-over-year PPNR growth. The dollar-change column matters because very high percentages can come from a low base. A 761.5% increase is important, but it is not automatically stronger than a smaller percentage increase with better ROA and fewer follow-up questions.
| Bank | State | Assets | Q4 2025 PPNR | Q4 2024 PPNR | Dollar change | Growth | ROA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Savings Bank, N.A. | HI | $8.98B | $98.2M | $11.4M | $86.8M | 761.5% | -0.34% |
| Bangor Savings Bank | ME | $7.35B | $82.6M | $15.0M | $67.6M | 452.4% | 0.39% |
| EagleBank | MD | $10.45B | $122.2M | $38.3M | $83.9M | 219.2% | -1.10% |
| The Bank of Missouri | MO | $3.04B | $60.7M | $19.2M | $41.5M | 215.3% | 1.65% |
| Hingham Institution for Savings | MA | $4.54B | $45.6M | $16.5M | $29.1M | 176.8% | 1.21% |
| California Bank of Commerce, N.A. | CA | $4.03B | $84.2M | $33.4M | $50.8M | 151.9% | 1.66% |
The clean first-pass read is not “American Savings Bank wins.” It is “American Savings Bank has the loudest operating-income signal and the first reconciliation burden.” The PPNR jump is large in dollars and percentage terms, but negative ROA means provision expense, losses, taxes, or other below-PPNR items are still driving the final earnings story.
Bangor Savings Bank is the middle case. The PPNR increase is large and ROA is positive, but 0.39% ROA sits well below the FDIC’s Q4 2025 industry ROA of 1.24%.[4] That does not make the row weak; it means the next memo should explain why operating improvement has not yet translated into peer-level profitability.
EagleBank is the classic caution row. Its $83.9 million PPNR increase is nearly as large as American Savings Bank’s, but -1.10% ROA says the screen is catching operating capacity before the bank’s full earnings burden. The right follow-up is a bridge from PPNR to net income, not a celebration of growth.
The Bank of Missouri and California Bank of Commerce, N.A. look stronger because their PPNR growth does not immediately collide with weak ROA. That does not finish the work; it changes the work. Instead of first explaining negative profitability, the analyst can move straight to loan mix, funding cost, capital, and whether the revenue source is repeatable.
A Practical Read Of Each Signal
| Signal | What it usually means | How to treat it |
|---|---|---|
| High PPNR growth plus ROA above 1% | Operating improvement may be reaching the bottom line. | Prioritize recurring revenue mix, credit quality, capital, and deposit funding. |
| High PPNR growth plus negative ROA | The bank is earning more before provision expense, but something is absorbing the improvement. | Build a PPNR-to-net-income bridge before calling the trend strong. |
| Large percentage gain from a small base | The headline number may overstate durability. | Look at dollar change, multi-quarter trend, and whether the same income source repeated. |
| PPNR growth led by fee income | The quality depends on the business line. | Separate recurring fees from episodic gains, sale income, or one-time transactions. |
This is where the table becomes useful. A bank with modestly lower growth but positive ROA can be a better candidate than a bank with a huge percentage increase and a negative bottom line. PPNR is an early operating-capacity measure; it should earn a bank more diligence, not exempt it from diligence.
For a quick second pass, open the bank in the public-data context view and compare it with similar-size peers in the peer comparison view. Use those links to answer four plain-English questions: did revenue improve, did expenses stay controlled, did credit costs consume the improvement, and does capital still look appropriate for the balance sheet?
The Credit Overlay That PPNR Cannot Replace
PPNR is most useful when credit is stable. Under CECL, provision expense reflects expected credit losses, so a bank can show stronger operating earnings and still report weak net income if expected losses rise.[5] That is why negative-ROA banks remain in the screen but get a caution label.
Commercial real estate concentration deserves special attention. The interagency CRE guidance highlights supervisory screening indicators for construction and land-development loans at or above 100% of total capital, or total CRE at or above 300% of total capital when CRE has grown 50% or more over the prior 36 months.[6] Those are not automatic failure lines, but they change how much confidence an analyst should put in a PPNR rebound.
For sponsor-bank diligence, keep the risk overlay brief and targeted. PPNR does not capture BSA/AML, consumer compliance, third-party oversight, or operational-control weaknesses. If the proposed relationship depends on payments, embedded deposits, cards, or fintech program management, search the bank’s enforcement history before advancing it. Recent third-party and deposit-arrangement guidance makes clear that outsourcing delivery does not outsource the bank’s compliance responsibility.[7][8]
Decision Rule
Advance a bank from this screen when three things are true. First, the PPNR improvement comes from recurring net interest income or durable fee income rather than a one-quarter item. Second, ROA is positive or the bridge from PPNR to net income is explainable. Third, credit quality, capital, deposit funding, and relevant enforcement searches do not contradict the operating story.
On that basis, The Bank of Missouri and California Bank of Commerce, N.A. are the strongest examples in this Q4 2025 set. American Savings Bank, N.A. and EagleBank are still important rows, but they are best framed as high-signal, high-follow-up cases. Bangor Savings Bank and Hingham Institution for Savings sit between those poles: positive operating signals that need peer and credit context before they become conclusions.
FAQ
Is PPNR better than net income?
No. PPNR shows pre-credit operating capacity. Net income shows what remains after provisions, losses, taxes, and other final earnings items.
Why include banks with negative ROA?
Because negative ROA does not erase an operating-income improvement. It changes the conclusion from “strong bank” to “needs a bridge from PPNR to net income.”
What makes a PPNR trend high quality?
Recurring revenue growth, controlled expenses, positive or explainable ROA, stable credit quality, adequate capital, and no funding or enforcement issue that would make the earnings stream less durable.
Sources
- FFIEC Call Report public data download: https://cdr.ffiec.gov/public/PWS/DownloadBulkData.aspx
- FDIC current Call Report forms, instructions, and related materials: https://www.fdic.gov/bank-financial-reports/current-quarter-call-report-forms-instructions-and-related-materials
- FFIEC 051 reporting form page and eligibility summary: https://www.ffiec.gov/resources/reporting-forms/ffiec051
- FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile, Q4 2025: https://www.fdic.gov/quarterly-banking-profile/quarterly-banking-profile-q4-2025
- FDIC CECL accounting and regulatory capital information: https://www.fdic.gov/resources/bankers/accounting/cecl/
- FDIC FIL-104-2006, interagency commercial real estate concentration guidance: https://www.fdic.gov/index.php/news/financial-institution-letters/2006/fil06104.html
- FDIC FIL-29-2023, interagency guidance on third-party relationships: https://www.fdic.gov/news/financial-institution-letters/2023/fil23029.html
- FDIC statement on bank arrangements with third parties delivering deposit products and services: https://www.fdic.gov/news/financial-institution-letters/2024/agencies-issue-statement-bank-arrangements-third-parties