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Brent Beardall

President, Chief Executive Officer & Vice Chairman, WAFD INC

Search every verified Brent Beardall interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Brent Beardall, president and CEO of WaFd, discussed the company's fiscal year 2026 results and its planned merger with EverBank during recent earnings calls and media appearances. In the fourth-quarter call, he reported net income of $241.2 million for fiscal 2026, with earnings per share up 22% year over year, and noted a $54 million commercial and industrial loan impairment that contributed to a 22 basis point loss rate. He said management expects the EverBank merger to close in the first quarter of 2027 and projected 29% earnings per share accretion once cost savings are fully realized. Beardall also described the banking environment as fundamentally changed, citing competition for deposits skewed toward the largest banks, and said the partnership with EverBank would help WaFd address such challenges by reducing reliance on non-interest bearing deposit growth and improving profitability. In September 2026, Beardall announced the $3.9 billion reverse merger with EverBank, which he said would create a combined bank with approximately $75 billion in assets. He stated that the deal was structured as a reverse merger because the two banks complement each other, and he described the transaction as the only recent bank merger with over 25% EPS accretion and less than 10% tangible book value dilution. Beardall said the merger would allow the combined company to reprice older, lower-rate mortgages to market yields and achieve a return on tangible common equity of just under 15% with a 3% margin. He also attributed the general slowdown in bank deals to valuation concerns, but predicted increased consolidation in the sector over the next two years.

Recent appearances

Notable quotes

“The capital rules that have been proposed it basically on average they say for midsize banks it will increase capital 7 to 8%. at WAFED and the the you know what Luther brought us combined. Our loan to value is so low on both our consumer and our mortgage or multifamily mortgages. We get a benefit of almost 15% additional capital. Think about that. That's that's unbelievable dry powder we have to make a difference in”

“Banking is a wonderful profession and a wonderful asset to our communities; leverage done right is a beautiful thing — it allows you to buy the home that you're raising your family in, and when you put your money in a bank, it's safe.”

“If I could be in charge of the world I would require two years of service for everyone around that time frame as you transition from high school to college.”

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