Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (LOB) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Q1 2026 Live Oak Bancshares, Inc., earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Also note that this call is being recorded on Thursday, April 23, 2026.

各位女士、先生，早安，歡迎參加 Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. 2026 年第一季（Q1 2026）財報電話會議。（接線員指示）另請注意，本通話於 2026 年 4 月 23 日（星期四）錄音。

And I would like to turn the conference over to General Counsel, Greg Seward. Please go ahead, sir.

現在我想將會議交給總法律顧問 Greg Seward。先生，請開始。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Live Oak's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. We are webcasting live over the Internet, and this call is being recorded. To access the call over the Internet and review the presentation materials that we will reference on the call, please visit our website at investor.liveoak.bank and go to the Events and Presentations tab for supporting materials. Our earnings release is also available on our website.

謝謝，各位早安。歡迎參加 Live Oak 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。我們正在透過網際網路進行即時網路直播，本通話亦將錄音。若要透過網際網路收聽並查閱我們在會議中將引用的簡報資料，請造訪 investor.liveoak.bank，並前往「Events and Presentations」分頁取得相關輔助資料。我們的財報新聞稿也可在網站上取得。

Before we get started, I would like to caution you that we may make forward-looking statements during today's call that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations are detailed in the materials accompanying this call and in our SEC filings. We do not undertake to update the forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that may arise after the date of today's call. Information about any non-GAAP financial measures referenced, including reconciliation of those measures to GAAP measures, can also be found in our SEC filings and in the presentation materials.

在開始之前，我想提醒各位，我們在今天的通話中可能會提出前瞻性陳述，而該等陳述受風險與不確定性影響。可能導致實際結果與我們預期有重大差異的因素，已詳載於本通話隨附資料以及我們向 SEC 提交的文件中。我們不承擔更新前瞻性陳述之義務，以反映在今日通話日期之後可能發生之情況或事件的影響。關於任何提及的非 GAAP 財務衡量指標之資訊（包括該等指標與 GAAP 指標之調節），亦可於我們的 SEC 申報文件及簡報資料中查閱。

I will now turn the call over to our Chairman and CEO, Chip Mahan.

現在我將把電話交給我們的董事長兼執行長 Chip Mahan。

Good morning, everyone. Team Live Oak is excited to tell you about our performance for the first quarter. Things are a little bit different today. Our President, BJ Losch, is a bit under the weather and predictably, he's dialing in remote. He'll start us off with a few overarching comments, and we'll hand it over to Walt Phifer, our CFO, for some numbers. And all of us, including Michael Cairns, our Chief Credit Officer, will be available for questions at the end.

各位早安。Live Oak 團隊很高興向各位說明我們第一季的表現。今天稍有不同。我們的總裁 BJ Losch 身體有點不適，因此如預期般以遠端撥入方式參與。他會先做一些整體性的評論，接著我們會交給財務長 Walt Phifer 提供一些數字。最後，包括我們的首席信貸長 Michael Cairns 在內的所有人，都會在問答環節回答問題。

BJ, over to you.

BJ，交給你。

Great. Thanks, Chip. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining us. Let's get started on slide 4.

很好，謝謝你，Chip。各位早安，感謝加入我們。我們從第 4 張投影片開始。

Our plan to create more sustainable earnings momentum is really working. As you can see in our earnings trends with reported EPS of $0.60 for the quarter and even stronger performance from the core operations. Our lending businesses continue to put up strong numbers. Our credit trends are stable to improving. We're continuing to ramp up small dollar SBA lending and checking, which are having a meaningful impact on our results with far more to come. And as you would expect from Live Oak, we are continuing to find ways to innovate and stay at the forefront of technological changes.

我們打造更可持續獲利動能的計畫確實正在發揮作用。如各位所見，本季公告每股盈餘（EPS）為 0.60 美元，而核心營運的表現更為強勁。我們的放款業務持續繳出亮眼成績；信用品質趨勢穩定至改善。我們持續加速推進小額 SBA 放款與支票存款業務，這些對我們的成果已產生實質影響，且後續仍有更大的成長空間。同時，也符合各位對 Live Oak 的期待，我們持續尋找創新方式，並保持在科技變革的最前沿。

Turning to slide 5, you see the earnings momentum continues. And as proud as I am of our loan production results, what matters most is how you translate that into profitable operating leverage and strong credit quality. And as you can see on slide 5, those results are simply outstanding with adjusted PPNR up 30% over this time last year and adjusted EPS almost doubled from this time last year.

翻到第 5 張投影片，各位可以看到獲利動能仍在延續。雖然我對我們的放款生產成果感到自豪，但最重要的是如何將其轉化為具獲利性的營運槓桿與強健的信用品質。如第 5 張投影片所示，成果非常出色：調整後 PPNR 較去年同期成長 30%，調整後 EPS 幾乎較去年同期翻倍。

On slide 6, you can see our credit trends over 10 years relative to all other SBA lenders. And while default rates have moved higher over the last two years, Live Oak's performance has been modestly improving despite a difficult backdrop for small businesses and the steady improvement in our provision, reserve coverage and past dues reflects this. Over the last several quarters, we've been sharing with you progress on two key initiatives: Checking and Live Oak Express, our small dollar 7(a) program. Both of these efforts launched in early 2024. And in just 24 months, our teams have made significant gains in winning customer checking relationships and serving more small business borrowers.

在第 6 張投影片，各位可以看到我們相對於其他所有 SBA 放款機構的 10 年信用趨勢。雖然過去兩年違約率有所上升，但在小型企業面臨艱困環境的背景下，Live Oak 的表現仍呈現溫和改善；而我們備抵提存、備抵覆蓋率與逾期款項的持續改善也反映了這一點。過去幾季，我們一直與各位分享兩項關鍵計畫的進展：支票存款（Checking）與 Live Oak Express（我們的小額 7(a) 計畫）。這兩項工作於 2024 年初啟動。短短 24 個月內，我們的團隊在爭取客戶支票往來關係以及服務更多小型企業借款人方面，已取得顯著進展。

That sounds great, and it is, but why is it so important to us? Well, two big reasons. Number one, if we are going to be America's small business bank, we've got to offer all the primary products they need. And number two, they are both highly accretive to our earnings profile and will provide a long-term tailwind to our earnings.

這聽起來很棒，確實如此，但為什麼這對我們如此重要？主要有兩個原因。第一，如果我們要成為「美國的小型企業銀行」，就必須提供他們所需的所有主要產品。第二，這兩項業務都能顯著增厚我們的獲利結構，並為我們的獲利帶來長期順風。

We started with virtually no noninterest-bearing accounts two years ago. We now have over $400 million in growing. That means we don't have to raise $400 million of market rate savings, CDs, or brokered deposits to fund our growth. If you do the math on that cost of funds impact, it's meaningful.

兩年前，我們幾乎沒有任何不計息存款帳戶。現在我們已超過 4 億美元，且仍在成長。這代表我們不必為了支應成長而去募集 4 億美元的市場利率儲蓄存款、定期存單（CDs）或經紀存款。若把資金成本的影響算一算，意義重大。

And we are only at 4% of noninterest-bearing to total deposits. Our goal is over 10%. On a current $14 billion deposit base, that's a huge opportunity to be the primary bank for our customers and significantly improve our funding profile. And with Live Oak Express, we are serving more small businesses that need capital to grow. And these smaller loans are highly desirable on the secondary market with premiums in the 9% to 13% range.

而且目前不計息存款占總存款僅 4%。我們的目標是超過 10%。以目前 140 億美元的存款基礎來看，這是一個巨大的機會，讓我們成為客戶的主要往來銀行，並顯著改善我們的資金結構。同時，透過 Live Oak Express，我們正在服務更多需要資金以成長的小型企業；而這些較小額的貸款在次級市場非常受歡迎，溢價約在 9% 到 13% 之間。

And as you can see on slide 8, we've sold $140 million of these so far. Our goal at [Cruise Altitude] is to produce at least $750 million of loan production in these small dollar loans annually. Again, if you do the math on that kind of volume with those kinds of premiums, the earnings impact is substantial.

如第 8 張投影片所示，截至目前我們已出售了 1.4 億美元的此類貸款。我們在 [Cruise Altitude] 的目標，是每年在這些小額貸款上至少達成 7.5 億美元的放款生產量。同樣地，如果把這樣的量體與這樣的溢價水準算一算，對獲利的影響相當可觀。

Again, I'm very pleased with our results and momentum. And as always, a big thank you to all Live Oakers. I couldn't be prouder of how our people are taking care of customers, making our operations better and profitably growing our company.

再次強調，我對我們的成果與動能感到非常滿意。也一如既往，衷心感謝所有 Live Oakers。我為我們的同仁照顧客戶、讓營運更好、並以獲利方式推動公司成長的表現感到無比自豪。

And with that, Walt, how about running through some of the financial highlights.

接下來，Walt，請你帶大家看一下幾項財務重點。

Thanks, BJ. Good morning, everyone. As outlined on page 11, our first quarter continued to highlight the strength of our core earnings profile. Diluted EPS was $0.60 in Q1, approximately a 3x increase compared to prior year, and adjusted EPS was $0.70, up 8% from Q4 and 94% from Q1 of last year. Driving this EPS accretion was an outstanding 18% year-over-year growth in revenue, while expenses only grew 6%. As a result, our Q1 reported PPNR of $60 million was 43% higher than Q1 of 2025, while adjusted PPNR was $66 million, up 30% year-over-year.

謝謝你，BJ。各位早安。如第 11 頁所示，我們第一季持續展現核心獲利結構的強勁。第一季稀釋後 EPS 為 0.60 美元，較去年同期約增加 3 倍；調整後 EPS 為 0.70 美元，較第四季成長 8%，較去年第一季成長 94%。推動 EPS 增厚的因素，是營收年增 18% 的亮眼成長，而費用僅成長 6%。因此，我們第一季公告 PPNR 為 6,000 萬美元，較 2025 年第一季高出 43%；調整後 PPNR 為 6,600 萬美元，年增 30%。

On the balance sheet front, our loan book grew 2% quarter-over-quarter and was up 14% compared to March of 2025. Customer deposits grew 3% linked quarter and 13% year-over-year. And as BJ mentioned, we continue to be proud of the growth in our noninterest-bearing checking balances, increasing 9% linked quarter and 47% year-over-year. Lastly, credit trends were stable with provision expense improving slightly to $20 million, better than market expectations.

在資產負債表方面，我們的貸款組合季增 2%，較 2025 年 3 月成長 14%。客戶存款較前一季成長 3%，年增 13%。如 BJ 所提，我們也持續為不計息支票存款餘額的成長感到自豪，較前一季成長 9%，年增 47%。最後，信用趨勢保持穩定，提存費用小幅改善至 2,000 萬美元，優於市場預期。

The key takeaways for the quarter are the core earnings were strong. Year-over-year revenue growth was fantastic and mostly driven by recurring net interest income. Expenses were well controlled. Credit trends remained stable and our key growth initiatives, checking and small dollar SBA lending, continue to move in the right direction.

本季的關鍵重點是：核心獲利強勁；年增營收成長非常出色，且主要由經常性淨利息收入所帶動；費用控管良好；信用趨勢維持穩定；而我們的關鍵成長計畫——支票存款與小額 SBA 放款——持續朝正確方向前進。

Now let's get into the details on the following pages. Page 12 highlights another strong quarter of diversified loan originations with broad-based contribution across our lending teams. We originated approximately $1.4 billion of loans across 35 industries in Q1, which speaks to both the breadth of our platform and the consistency of the demand in the market. Our pipelines are currently at an all-time high, which continues to support our confidence in the forward growth outlook.

現在我們來看接下來幾頁的細節。第 12 頁凸顯我們又一個強勁季度的多元化放款承作，各放款團隊均有廣泛貢獻。我們在第一季於 35 個產業合計承作約 14 億美元的貸款，這顯示出我們平台的廣度，以及市場需求的穩定性。我們目前的案源管線處於歷史新高，持續支撐我們對未來成長展望的信心。

While page 12 focused on loan production, page 13 illustrates the strong durable balance growth on both sides of the balance sheet. Loans ended the quarter at approximately $12.6 billion, up 2% linked quarter and 14% year-over-year. Our portfolio mix remained very consistent with 64% of our loan book in our small business lending segment and 36% of our loan book in our commercial lending segment. And as a reminder, 30% of our loan book is government guaranteed, a key differentiator of our balance sheet versus the industry.

雖然第12頁聚焦於貸款承作量，第13頁則說明資產負債表兩端強勁且具持續性的餘額成長。貸款於本季末約為126億美元，較前一季成長2%，年增14%。我們的投資組合結構維持相當一致，其中64%的貸款帳簿屬於小型企業放款部門，36%屬於商業放款部門。並提醒一下，我們貸款帳簿中有30%為政府擔保，這是我們資產負債表相較同業的一項關鍵差異化因素。

Customer deposits ended at approximately $9.9 billion and grew 3% linked quarter, roughly in line with our loan growth. The reported loan growth rate was a little more muted than the underlying production would suggest. That was primarily a timing function of elevated payoff activity during the quarter related to some larger loans across three verticals and were largely anticipated. We view this level of paydowns as an outlier and not something that should persist at the same rate going forward.

客戶存款期末約為99億美元，較前一季成長3%，大致與貸款成長一致。報告上的貸款成長率較基礎承作量所暗示的略為溫和，主要是本季出現較高的提前清償活動所致，與三個垂直領域中的部分較大型貸款相關，且多屬事先預期。我們認為此等還款水準屬於離群值，未來不太可能以相同速度持續。

Our net interest income and margin trends are detailed on page 14. In Q1, net interest income was approximately $119 million, and our net interest margin was 3.27%. While we mentioned in our Q4 2025 earnings call that we expected our net interest income and margin to step down following the 50 basis points of prime-based loans repricing on January 1, both our net interest income and margin outperformed expectations.

第14頁詳述我們的淨利息收入與利差趨勢。第一季淨利息收入約為1.19億美元，淨利息收益率（NIM）為3.27%。雖然我們在2025年第四季法說會中提到，預期在1月1日以最優惠利率（prime）為基礎的貸款重定價下調50個基點後，淨利息收入與利差將下滑，但實際上兩者表現均優於預期。

More importantly, from a year-over-year perspective, net interest income is up 19%, while net interest margin is up 7 basis points, illustrating strong recurring revenue growth and improved pricing discipline. As detailed on the roll forward on the bottom right of the page, the linked quarter move was really a function of several offsetting items. One item to note here is the negative $2.5 million impact from day count in Q1, which is just a product of seasonality, normalizing the number of days between Q4 of 2025 and Q1 of 2026 and the extent the compression would have been muted.

更重要的是，從年對年角度來看，淨利息收入成長19%，淨利息收益率上升7個基點，顯示經常性收入強勁成長以及定價紀律改善。如頁面右下方的滾動分析所示，季對季變動主要是多項互相抵銷因素所致。其中值得注意的是，第一季因天數因素帶來負向250萬美元影響，這只是季節性所致，反映2025年第四季與2026年第一季之間天數正常化；若排除此因素，利差壓縮本可較為緩和。

Ultimately, I think our net interest income profile remains very healthy and year-over-year growth is strong. If the forward curve holds true, a flat interest rate environment should be a good backdrop for our net interest income and NIM profile in 2026.

整體而言，我認為我們的淨利息收入結構仍然非常健康，且年對年成長強勁。若遠期利率曲線如預期，在2026年利率持平的環境，將有利於我們的淨利息收入與NIM表現。

Moving over to guaranteed loan sales trends on page 15. From an absolute performance standpoint, this was a good quarter. Gain on sale was up 25% linked quarter and in line with Q1 of 2025, as we guided in Q&A during our last earnings call. SBA premiums remained steady and Live Oak Express continues to be a meaningful contributor. Our gain on sale has remained between 10% to 13% of our total revenue over the last 12 quarters, generally with a slight stair step upward trajectory throughout the year.

接著看第15頁的擔保貸款出售趨勢。就絕對表現而言，這是一個不錯的季度。出售收益（gain on sale）較前一季成長25%，並與2025年第一季相當，符合我們在上次法說會問答中所提供的指引。SBA溢價維持穩定，Live Oak Express 仍是重要貢獻來源。過去12個季度，我們的出售收益占總營收比重維持在10%至13%之間，整體而言一年內通常呈現略為階梯式上升的走勢。

We expect 2026 to be no different. The bottom line, gain on sale was up linked quarter in line with Q1 of last year as we guided. We expect a slight stair step up each quarter as the year progresses, and we continue to see strong contribution from Live Oak Express.

我們預期2026年也不會有不同。總結而言，出售收益如我們所指引，季對季上升，且與去年第一季一致。我們預期隨著年度推進，每一季會略呈階梯式上升，並持續看到 Live Oak Express 的強勁貢獻。

Expense and efficiency trends are detailed on page 16. Total noninterest expense was approximately $85 million in Q1, down from $89 million in Q4, while our Q1 efficiency ratio was 59%, which is about 7 points better than Q1 of last year. Our focus on operating leverage continues to be the primary driver of our efficiency improvement year-over-year. Since Q1 of last year, our revenue growth has outpaced expense growth by about 3x. That's exactly the trend line that we want to see. We are continuing to invest in growth, technology and innovation opportunities across the business, but we are doing so in a way that is driving better scale, better efficiency and a stronger earnings profile over time.

第16頁詳述費用與效率趨勢。第一季非利息費用總額約為8,500萬美元，低於第四季的8,900萬美元；第一季效率比率為59%，較去年第一季改善約7個百分點。我們對營運槓桿的聚焦，仍是年對年效率提升的主要驅動因素。自去年第一季以來，我們的營收成長約為費用成長的3倍，這正是我們希望看到的趨勢。我們持續在全公司投資成長、科技與創新機會，但採取的方式能帶來更佳規模、更高效率，並隨時間推進形成更強的獲利結構。

Turning to credit on page 17. The key message on this page is that we view our credit trends as stable and our reserve position remains healthy. As you see highlighted at the top of the page, our unguaranteed allowance for credit losses to unguaranteed loans and leases held for investment ratio was 2.14%. Provision also moved down to approximately $20 million compared to approximately $22 million in Q4 and $29 million in Q1 of 2025.

接著看第17頁的信用狀況。本頁的關鍵訊息是：我們認為信用趨勢穩定，且備抵水位仍然健康。如頁面上方所示，我們「非擔保」信用損失備抵（ACL）占「非擔保」投資持有之貸款與租賃比率為2.14%。提存費用亦降至約2,000萬美元，低於第四季約2,200萬美元及2025年第一季的2,900萬美元。

From an underlying credit trends perspective, the over 30-day past due ratio improved to 4 basis points, which is an excellent result and below our typical assumed range of 10 to 30 basis points. The nonaccrual ratio was 102 basis points, up modestly quarter-over-quarter, with 27% of the nonaccruals being derived from verticals that we have since exited over time.

就基礎信用趨勢而言，逾期30天以上比率改善至4個基點，這是非常好的結果，且低於我們一般假設的10至30個基點區間。不計息（nonaccrual）比率為102個基點，季對季小幅上升，其中27%的不計息來源來自我們隨時間已退出的垂直領域。

Lastly, in this section, the net charge-off ratio was 63 basis points for the quarter. And while the underlying credit trends are important leading indicators, they don't quite illustrate the true risk as things like collateral and already established reserve coverage on the underlying loans are not reflected within these ratios.

最後，本節中本季淨沖銷（net charge-off）比率為63個基點。雖然基礎信用趨勢是重要的領先指標，但這些比率未能充分呈現真實風險，因為抵押品以及既有的備抵覆蓋等因素並未反映在其中。

However, all of these metrics and underlying factors are considered collectively within our ACL coverage and the fact that our coverage ratio, along with our provision expense trends have been relatively stable to improving over the last five quarters, supports our portfolio stability sentiment. We are, of course, monitoring macro developments closely. But sitting here today, we feel good about the health of our portfolio, the low level of delinquencies and the reserve position we have built.

然而，所有這些指標與基礎因素都會在我們的ACL覆蓋中綜合考量；而我們的覆蓋比率以及提存費用趨勢在過去五個季度相對穩定至改善，支持我們對投資組合穩定性的看法。我們當然會密切關注總體環境變化，但就目前而言，我們對投資組合健康狀況、低逾期水準以及已建立的備抵水位感到安心。

Capital levels remain healthy and robust, as shown on page 18, with quarter-over-quarter risk-based capital ratios improving approximately 10 basis points while our Tier 1 leverage ratio remained stable. As highlighted on the left side of this page, we also continue to think the Mahan Ratio is a very helpful way to frame the strength of our differentiated balance sheet as approximately 40% of our assets are in cash, government-guaranteed investments or government-guaranteed loans.

如第18頁所示，資本水準仍然健康且穩健：季對季風險基礎資本比率提升約10個基點，而第一類資本槓桿比率（Tier 1 leverage ratio）維持穩定。如本頁左側所強調，我們也持續認為「Mahan Ratio」是衡量我們差異化資產負債表強度的非常有用方式，因為約40%的資產為現金、政府擔保投資或政府擔保貸款。

In Q1, our Tier 1 capital plus allowance for credit losses and fair value marks, our Mahan Ratio, totaled 16.7% of unguaranteed loans and leases. Strong capital coverage against the true risk on our balance sheet.

第一季，我們的第一類資本加上信用損失備抵與公允價值調整（fair value marks），亦即 Mahan Ratio，合計相當於非擔保貸款與租賃的16.7%。這代表對資產負債表真實風險具備強勁的資本覆蓋。

Just to recap the quarter, we view Q1 as another step forward in building sustainable earnings momentum. The core performance of the quarter was strong. Our key growth drivers continue to build. Credit and capital remained stable to improving, and we remain very focused on executing against the opportunities in front of us. Thank you to the Live Oak team for another strong quarter.

簡要回顧本季，我們認為第一季是在建立可持續獲利動能上的又一步。季度核心表現強勁，主要成長驅動因素持續累積。信用與資本維持穩定至改善，我們也仍高度專注於執行眼前的機會。感謝 Live Oak 團隊再度交出強勁的一季。

And with that, I'll turn it back over to BJ.

接下來我把時間交回給 BJ。

Great. Thanks, Walt. Let's go to the questions.

很好。謝謝你，Walt。我們進入提問。

(Operator Instructions) Eric Spector, Cantor Fitzgerald.

（接線員指示）Eric Spector，Cantor Fitzgerald。

This is Eric dialing in for Dave. Maybe just starting off on the NIM. With the Fed on hold, could you walk us through the key drivers of what would allow NIM to kind of stabilize near term and then improve later in the year? And then just talk us through the dynamics of specifically how much is coming from growth, wider loan spreads or funding mix improvement?

我是 Eric，代 Dave 來電。先從NIM開始。聯準會按兵不動的情況下，能否請你帶我們了解一下，哪些關鍵驅動因素會讓NIM在短期內大致穩定，並在今年稍晚改善？另外也請談談具體動能：其中有多少來自成長、更寬的貸款利差，或是資金來源結構改善？

Yes, great question. Eric, this is Walt. So a flat Fed environment probably stabilize our NIM and our net interest income and ultimately benefits our profile as it allows loan growth to become the primary driver, not Fed actions. So put that in context of 2026, keeping consistent with commentary from our last call, assuming those flat rates, we'd expect that margin to stabilize here in the near term and then allow loan growth levels to influence the level of expansion as the year progresses.

是的，問得很好。Eric，我是 Walt。在聯準會利率持平的環境下，我們的NIM與淨利息收入大概率會趨於穩定，並最終有利於我們的結構，因為這讓貸款成長成為主要驅動因素，而不是聯準會的動作。把這放在2026年的脈絡下，並延續我們上次電話會議的評論，在假設利率持平的情況下，我們預期利差在短期內將趨於穩定，並在年度推進過程中，讓貸款成長水準影響擴張幅度。

If you think through the different factors, I think with a flat interest rate environment, loan yields can stabilize because you're not getting that downward repricing pressure that we saw in Q1 and then at the end of last year. Deposit market is competitive. That's an area that we spent quite a time monitoring and making sure that our flows make sense and are supporting our growth. But we feel really good about our positioning in that space as well.

如果你把不同因素都想一遍，我認為在利率持平的環境下，貸款收益率可以趨於穩定，因為你不會再承受我們在第一季以及去年年底看到的那種向下重新定價壓力。存款市場競爭激烈。這是我們花了相當多時間監控、並確保資金流向合理且能支持我們成長的領域。但我們也對自己在這個領域的布局感到非常有信心。

And then from a growth perspective, I think that the vast majority of any expansion kind of moving forward will be highly growth driven. And if you kind of follow our story, which I know you have over your career, growth for us is pretty impactful from a market standpoint. So we expect that to continue. And I think you can look at prior years and flat interest rate environments to get a sense of what that impact would be.

接著從成長的角度來看，我認為未來任何擴張的絕大部分都將高度由成長所驅動。而如果你一路追蹤我們的故事——我知道你在你的職涯中一直有在關注——對我們而言，成長在市場面向的影響相當顯著。所以我們預期這會持續下去。而且我認為你可以回顧過去幾年在利率持平環境下的表現，來理解那會帶來什麼樣的影響。

Great. That's helpful. And then maybe switching gears to loans. I know you mentioned pipeline levels are at all-time highs, and it remains strong and diversified. Can you help us think through how much of the pipeline strength is translating into near-term production? And do you see enough visibility to support low to mid-teens growth in a stable rate environment? And then maybe help us think through the cadence of growth throughout the year.

很好，這很有幫助。那也許換個話題談貸款。我知道你提到管線水位創歷史新高，而且仍然強勁且多元化。你能否協助我們理解：管線強勁有多少正在轉化為近期的放款產出？在利率穩定的環境下，你們是否有足夠能見度來支撐低到中十幾%的成長？另外也請幫我們理解今年全年成長的節奏會是如何。

Yes. So I'll start. Again, Eric, this is Walt. So from a pipeline standpoint, our pipeline today is about $4.5 billion. Typically, what that equates to from a production standpoint, you got moves through and they have expected closings, I would think our production will be very in line or better than Q2 of last year, kind of here in the near term.

可以。我先開始。再說一次，Eric，我是 Walt。就管線而言，我們目前的管線大約是 45 億美元。通常從產出角度來看，案子會往前推進並有預期結案時間，我認為在近期，我們的產出將會與去年第二季非常一致，甚至更好。

Some things will push the right, some things will come in the quarter earlier than we anticipated. I think in the last earnings call, we talked about that low to mid-double-digit loan growth year-over-year. I still think that holds true, just given kind of what we're seeing in the pipeline and how those loans are coming through. So I wouldn't move off of that.

有些案子會往後延，有些會比我們預期提早在某一季進來。我想在上一次財報電話會議中，我們談到年增低到中雙位數的貸款成長。我仍然認為這個說法成立，主要是基於我們在管線中看到的情況，以及這些貸款進件的節奏。所以我不會改變這個看法。

Okay. That's great. And then maybe on deposits, you highlighted the continued momentum in business checking and the longer-term goal of getting to NIB over 10% of deposits. Can you talk us through about the progress you expect over the next few quarters and talk about where you're driving success?

好的，很棒。那再談存款方面，你提到企業活期存款（business checking）動能持續，以及長期目標是讓 NIB 佔存款比重超過 10%。你能否帶我們了解未來幾季你預期的進展，以及你們成功的驅動來源在哪裡？

Yes, I'll take that one. I'm excited about this one. I mean we're building a lot of customer relationships. When I got to Live Oak about 4.5 years ago, only 3% of our customers had a loan and deposit account. Today, that's 23%. And over the last two years, we've been anchoring that with checking accounts. And now when we open a loan account, one out of every three of those has a checking account. And so I'm incredibly excited about what we can do to build customer relationships that are stickier over time.

好，這題我來回答。我對這題很興奮。我們正在建立大量的客戶關係。我在大約 4.5 年前加入 Live Oak 時，只有 3% 的客戶同時有貸款與存款帳戶。今天，這個比例是 23%。而在過去兩年，我們以支票帳戶作為核心來推動。現在當我們開立一個貸款帳戶時，每三個就有一個同時開了支票帳戶。所以我對我們能建立更具黏著度、能隨時間更穩固的客戶關係感到非常振奮。

And so really, what we've been doing over the last couple of years is just getting our lenders more comfortable with the notion of selling deposits because we hadn't done that for the first 15 years of our existence. Our lenders are doing an excellent job doing that, and our treasury management team and our deposits team are doing a fantastic job taking those leads and moving those into actual active accounts.

因此，過去幾年我們真正做的事情，是讓放款人更習慣「銷售存款」這個概念，因為在我們成立的前 15 年並沒有這麼做。我們的放款人做得非常好，而我們的資金管理（treasury management）團隊與存款團隊也做得非常出色，把這些線索轉化為實際的活躍帳戶。

So over the next three years, I would expect us to be in the 10-plus percent range by simply just doing more of what we're doing today, selling the checking accounts with the new loans that we're opening. We're looking at different partnerships that we can create with different affinity groups. We're introducing merchant services, which is obviously very important to many small businesses and commercial customers. That is in launch right now.

所以在未來三年，我預期我們只要持續加大目前正在做的事情——也就是在新開立貸款時一併銷售支票帳戶——就能達到 10% 以上的區間。我們也在評估可以與不同的同好／會員型社群（affinity groups）建立的各種合作夥伴關係。我們正在導入商戶服務（merchant services），這對許多小型企業與商業客戶顯然非常重要。目前已在上線推出中。

And so that's going to accelerate our ability to build our checking deposits. So a 10% target is not really heroic. If you look at the industry, the industry is at 20% to 25%. For us to just get to 10% or more, we think is very, very achievable, and it's going to have a meaningful impact on the stickiness of our relationships and the funding profile that we have.

因此，這將加速我們建立支票存款的能力。所以 10% 的目標其實並不誇張。若看整個產業，產業水準大約在 20% 到 25%。對我們而言，只要達到 10% 或更高，我們認為非常、非常可行，而且這會對我們關係的黏著度以及我們的資金來源結構帶來有意義的影響。

Great. That's helpful color. I'll step back. Thanks for taking the questions, and congrats on a good quarter.

很好，這些補充很有幫助。我先把時間交回去。謝謝回答問題，也恭喜本季表現不錯。

Tim Switzer, KBW.

Tim Switzer，KBW。

The first one I have is the trajectory of SBA loan sale volume over the rest of the year. Sorry, if you addressed this in your opening comments, but was there any holdback at all this quarter? It was still up year-over-year, but did you guys intentionally retain some loans again this quarter because held-for-sale loans went up and I'm just trying to get an idea of what the pace of loan selling could look like over the rest of '26.

我第一個問題是今年剩餘時間 SBA 貸款出售量的走勢。抱歉如果你在開場已經提過，但這一季有沒有任何程度的刻意保留（holdback）？雖然仍然年增，但你們是否這一季又刻意留下一些貸款，因為待售貸款（held-for-sale loans）增加了；我只是想了解 2026 年剩餘時間貸款出售的節奏可能會是什麼樣子。

Sure. Great question. Tim, this is Walt. So we didn't intentionally hold back. What we did see was quite a bit of production come through in the last, call it, 1.5 to 2 weeks of the quarter. So typically, anything that comes through at that point in time, you can't sell and settle within the current quarter, that gives you a nice head start as we go into the next quarter. So I think that's what you're seeing in the held for sale loan volume.

當然。Tim，這是 Walt。這題問得好。我們沒有刻意保留。我們看到的是在本季最後大約 1.5 到 2 週有相當多的產出進來。通常在那個時間點進來的案子，你無法在當季完成出售與交割結算，這會讓我們在進入下一季時有一個不錯的起跑優勢。所以我認為你在待售貸款餘額上看到的就是這個效果。

As far as trajectory, I mentioned it in my prepared remarks, and we've shown this kind of over the years where Q1 is our lowest and then we have a slight stair step in Q2 and Q3 and Q4 and so forth. But then kind of you normalized back again in Q1 and then you kind of start that stair step again. So I think you'll -- largely if you look back then or the prior years, now give you kind of a sense of what that stair step to look like.

至於走勢，我在事先準備的講稿裡有提到，而且多年來我們也呈現過這種型態：第一季通常是最低，然後第二季、第三季、第四季會有一點點階梯式上升。之後在第一季又會回到較正常化的水準，然後再重新開始那個階梯。所以我想你如果回頭看過去幾年，大致就能對那個階梯式走勢會長什麼樣子有個概念。

Okay. Interesting. And any color you can provide on what drove the 1% increase in the gain on sale premium?

好的，有意思。那你能否補充一下，是什麼驅動了出售利得溢價（gain on sale premium）增加 1%？

Yes. This is Walt again. It's really just a function of mix. We did see a little bit higher Live Oak Express origination in Q1, as you saw in the deck. So as BJ mentioned, Live Oak Express gets 9% to 13% premium, that helps.

可以。我還是 Walt。這主要就是組合（mix）的因素。我們在第一季確實看到 Live Oak Express 的承作量（origination）稍微高一些，你在簡報裡也看到了。所以如 BJ 提到的，Live Oak Express 的溢價大約是 9% 到 13%，這會有幫助。

USDA loans, the guaranteed portion, we were able to sell quite a few more of those loans again in Q1. They've been getting a nice premium as investors that buy those loans typically start to think of potential downward rate protection. So there's a little bit more of a demand for that space right now as well. But broadly, I think that 106% to 107% range from a premium standpoint as we've averaged over the last four, five quarters, I would maintain that going forward.

USDA 貸款方面，就保證部分而言，我們在第一季也能再出售更多這類貸款。它們一直能拿到不錯的溢價，因為買這些貸款的投資人通常會開始考量潛在的降息保護，因此目前對這個領域的需求也稍微更高一些。不過整體來說，從溢價角度，我認為我們在過去四、五個季度平均的 106% 到 107% 區間，未來仍會維持。

Okay. Got it. And then the last one for me real quick on -- I mean, I guess, basically, just how has Live Oak Express been trending towards your expectations? You guys talked about the $750 million annual target. I think previously, you guys have mentioned $1 billion is kind of an aspirational goal. Has that changed? Or is it more just like a timeline on when you'll achieve these?

好的，了解。那我最後一個問題很快問一下——基本上就是 Live Oak Express 的走勢到目前為止是否符合你們的預期？你們談到每年 7.5 億美元的目標。我記得之前你們也提過 10 億美元算是一個更具企圖心的目標。這有改變嗎？還是比較像是達成時間點的問題？

I think we're just being conservative, Tim. I do expect us to go past the $750 million production in annual.

Tim，我想我們只是比較保守。我確實預期我們年度產出會超過 7.5 億美元。

And you guys are kind of seeing the demand that you were expecting so far.

而且到目前為止，你們也確實看到符合預期的需求。

Yes, for sure. So if you look at the slide that we had, the SBA changed the SOP back in midyear of 2025, which it essentially went back to what the rules had been before. So they had loosened the rules for smaller dollar loans, then they tightened them back up. So it just caused a little bit of a backup in our ability to generate those loans efficiently. But as you can see, we're on the rise again. So I feel highly, highly confident in our ability to generate that kind of volume.

是的，絕對是。你如果看我們那張投影片，SBA 在 2025 年年中調整了 SOP，基本上是回到之前的規則。他們曾經放寬小額貸款的規則，之後又把規則收緊回去。所以這讓我們在更有效率地生成這些貸款方面出現了一點積壓。但如你所見，我們又重新回升了。因此我對我們能產生那樣的量非常、非常有信心。

And as you'll see on this slide as well, we are now in pilot with an AI-native loan origination platform, which is huge. And so once that is fully rolled out, it's going to make it so much simpler, easier, faster and more efficient for our people to serve our customers and for our customers to get the capital that they need. And so with all the changes in the SOP and competitors dropping out of the market, particularly on the lower end because of credit quality issues, we're finding more opportunities to do more business in the $500,000 and below. And so I think that that number is going to reaccelerate sooner rather than later.

而且如同你在這張投影片上也會看到的，我們現在正以 AI 原生的貸款起案平台進行試點，這非常重大。因此，一旦全面推廣，將使我們的人員在服務客戶、以及客戶取得所需資金方面，變得更簡單、更容易、更快速且更有效率。隨著 SOP 的各項變更，以及競爭對手退出市場——特別是在較低端市場，因為信用品質問題——我們發現有更多機會在 50 萬美元及以下的區間做更多業務。因此我認為那個數字將會比預期更快重新加速。

(Operator Instructions) David Feaster, Raymond James.

（接線員指示）David Feaster，Raymond James。

I wanted to start -- go back to the credit side for just a second. You talked about how over a quarter of the nonaccruals are in verticals that you've exited. What verticals are those? How much remaining balances do you have in those verticals? And kind of what led you to exit those? Is it risk that's just structurally too high in those segments as we've gotten into it or we didn't have the right team? Just kind of curious if you could touch on that.

我想先從——回到信用面再談一下。你提到超過四分之一的不計息貸款（nonaccruals）是在你們已退出的垂直領域。那些垂直領域是哪些？你們在那些垂直領域還剩多少餘額？以及你們退出的原因大概是什麼？是因為隨著我們深入之後發現那些區隔的風險在結構上就太高，還是我們沒有合適的團隊？只是想請你稍微談談。

Yes. Michael Cairns here. Happy to talk about that. So one of the advantages about being in all of these different specific verticals and having industry expertise is that we have insights to headwinds. We see things coming early.

是的。我是 Michael Cairns。很樂意談這個。所以，涉足這些不同的特定垂直領域並具備產業專業的一個優勢，是我們能洞察逆風因素。我們能更早看到事情的走向。

That's a big part of what my job and our credit team is focused on, is working with the servicing team, working with the lenders that are out in those industries and assessing what's going on. And so that's an ongoing process for us. And over the years, we've made the decision to exit several verticals. We've adjusted verticals. We've added new verticals and like that's an ongoing process for us.

這也是我以及我們信用團隊工作重點的一大部分：與貸後服務團隊合作、與在那些產業中的放款人合作，並評估正在發生什麼。因此，這對我們而言是一個持續進行的流程。多年來，我們已決定退出若干垂直領域；我們也調整垂直領域；我們也新增新的垂直領域——這對我們來說一直都是持續的流程。

The vertical that -- or a segment of a vertical that we're really highlighting the increased small uptick in nonaccrual percentage for the quarter was -- or is this whiskey distillery segment, which is a niche component of our former wine and craft beverage lending group. It's a really small segment of our balance sheet, but it's disproportionately impacting the nonaccrual percentage this quarter, and that was the big mover this quarter.

我們特別點出本季不計息比例小幅上升的垂直領域——或說某個垂直領域中的一個區段——是威士忌蒸餾廠這個區段。它是我們先前葡萄酒與精釀飲料放款團隊中的一個利基組成。這在我們資產負債表中占比非常小，但本季卻對不計息比例造成不成比例的影響，而這就是本季最大的變動因素。

That's not a vertical that we decided to exit this quarter. We exited some time ago when we saw the issues there, the primary driver being the consumer preference change in demand for whiskey and an oversupply in that product coming out of COVID, especially. And so we saw that coming, and we made the adjustment.

這不是我們本季才決定退出的垂直領域。我們在一段時間前就退出了，因為當時看到那裡的問題；主要驅動因素是消費者偏好改變導致威士忌需求下降，以及（尤其是）COVID 之後該產品供給過剩。因此我們看到了趨勢，並做了調整。

This quarter, we had to move some of those loans to nonaccrual as we're working through our workout strategy. Our special asset team has been all over this for some time and our servicing team. So again, it's a really small component of what we do and something we're working through.

本季，當我們推進重整/處置（workout）策略時，必須將其中一些貸款轉為不計息。我們的特殊資產團隊以及貸後服務團隊早已在這件事上投入相當多時間。所以再說一次，這只是我們業務中非常小的一部分，我們正在處理中。

And I guess what I would say on nonaccruals as a whole, when you think about that, I do -- and Walt highlighted this a little bit, those loans are individually assessed by our special asset team and our credit team on an ongoing basis. So once you're classified in our nonaccrual, we're pegging a potential loss there, and that's built into our reserve coverage.

另外我想就整體不計息貸款補充的是：當你思考不計息時——我確實認為，Walt 也稍微提到——這些貸款會由我們的特殊資產團隊與信用團隊持續逐筆評估。因此，一旦被歸類為不計息，我們就會在那裡設定一個潛在損失，而這已反映在我們的備抵覆蓋中。

So you can look at these components like nonaccruals and past dues, but when you look at the larger picture and you want to know how management credit is feeling about the portfolio going forward, the ACL coverage is a pretty good indication of how we feel and I feel good, and I feel like our portfolio is very stable at this point.

所以你可以看不計息與逾期等構成項目，但當你看更大的全貌、想知道管理層對未來投資組合信用狀況的感受時，ACL 覆蓋率是一個相當好的指標，能反映我們的看法。我感覺良好，也覺得我們的投資組合在此刻非常穩定。

Okay. That's helpful. And you talked about an AI origination platform. I know you guys have a lot of investments ongoing through Canopy, through stuff that you guys are developing. You're always early to leverage new technologies.

好的。這很有幫助。你提到 AI 起案平台。我知道你們透過 Canopy 以及你們自行開發的項目，持續進行很多投資。你們一向很早就開始運用新技術。

And importantly, I think you've got the culture and expertise to do so. Where else are you seeing other opportunities to utilize AI? I know we've talked about embedded finance. Just kind of curious some of the -- maybe some of the exciting things on the horizon that you're looking at in both of those areas.

而且很重要的是，我認為你們具備相應的文化與專業能力來做到這點。你們還在哪些地方看到運用 AI 的其他機會？我知道我們談過嵌入式金融。想請教你在這兩個領域中，未來有哪些——也許是一些令人興奮的——發展正在觀察中。

David, it's BJ. So obviously, our biggest platform is lending. And so 1.5 years ago, we started on this journey to get on an AI-native platform because we saw the future coming. And so I feel like we're going to be quite a bit ahead of others by moving quickly on that. And so I feel really, really good about that.

David，我是 BJ。很明顯，我們最大的核心平台是放款。因此在 1.5 年前，我們就開始這段旅程，轉向 AI 原生平台，因為我們看到了未來的趨勢。所以我覺得我們快速推進，將會比其他人領先不少。我對此感覺非常、非常好。

So having our most important platform in an AI-native world is going to be really good. But I think the way that we're approaching AI, it may or may not be different, but it's how we're doing it. We wanted to start with a bottoms-up way of introducing AI to our people.

因此，讓我們最重要的平台進入 AI 原生世界會非常有利。但我認為我們採用 AI 的方式，可能與他人相同也可能不同，關鍵在於我們如何落地。我們希望以自下而上的方式，先把 AI 引入到我們的人員之中。

And so we made AI capabilities and tools available to all 1,000 of our employees right away. And we asked them -- Chip asked them, he charged them in our town hall to start iterating, start playing with AI, start doing it in your individual work and in your teams to make it better. And today, we have over 350 AI agents that have been built by our people, not necessarily by our technology team, but by our people themselves because they're curious. So starting with a bottoms-up to make it accessible to people and not just some scary thing that's out there, I think, has been a big deal. But ultimately, we are going to be an AI native bank.

因此我們立刻把 AI 能力與工具提供給我們全部 1,000 名員工使用。我們也請他們——Chip 在全員大會上要求他們——開始迭代、開始嘗試 AI，在個人工作與團隊中運用它，把事情做得更好。到今天為止，我們的人員已建立了超過 350 個 AI 代理（agents），不一定是由我們的技術團隊打造，而是由我們的同仁自己打造，因為他們充滿好奇。以自下而上的方式讓大家容易接觸，而不是把 AI 當成外面某個可怕的東西，我認為這一直是很重要的一點。但最終，我們將會是一家 AI 原生銀行。

We are going to have everything that we can possibly put on an AI platform. We are going to have that in our operations. But with that said, I think, frankly, over time, everybody is going to do that. And so our end goal is not just to be AI-native. Our end goal is to make it better for the customer and create a customer experience using AI partnered with our people that nobody else can match and having an engine in our back office that is streamlined in the most effective and efficient way possible with AI.

我們會把所有能夠放到 AI 平台上的東西，都放到 AI 平台上，並在營運中落地。但話說回來，我認為坦白講，隨著時間推移，所有人都會這麼做。因此我們的最終目標不只是成為 AI 原生；我們的最終目標是讓客戶體驗更好，並用 AI 搭配我們的人員，打造一個無人能及的客戶體驗，同時在後台建立一個在 AI 加持下最精簡、最有效且最高效率的引擎。

So there's lots going on there. We've got all kinds of use cases like everybody else does. But I think what we're doing is starting to go department by department to figure out how to create the most unique customer experience that we possibly can while building an AI-native franchise.

所以這方面有很多事情在進行。我們有各式各樣的使用情境，跟其他人一樣。但我認為我們正在做的是，開始逐個部門去釐清如何在打造 AI 原生特許經營（franchise）的同時，創造我們所能做到的最獨特客戶體驗。

That's awesome. And maybe just last one for me, another kind of high level one. Look, you guys have a lot going on, right? This is all going to support growth, operating leverage and profitability. I guess how do you think about a longer-term profitability target for the bank, assuming that we do get -- we get a larger NIB contribution and more checking account growth.

這很棒。也許我最後一個問題，是另一個比較高層次的問題。你看，你們正在做很多事情，對吧？這些都將支持成長、營運槓桿與獲利能力。我想問的是，在假設我們確實能——能獲得更大的 NIB 貢獻以及更多支票帳戶成長的情況下，你們如何看待銀行較長期的獲利目標？

Live Oak Express does $750 million plus in production. Growth remains in that mid -- low to mid-teens pace, rates stabilize, AI starts to really materialize. How do you think about the profitability profile of Live Oak as this all starts to hit stride?

Live Oak Express 的產量（production）達到 7.5 億美元以上。成長仍維持在中——低到中十位數的步調，利率趨於穩定，AI 開始真正顯現成效。當這一切開始步入正軌時，你如何看待 Live Oak 的獲利輪廓？

15 and 15. That's what we talk about all the time, David. 15% return on equity with 15% earnings per share growth. And so I think we are on the precipice of really starting to be able to do that. Our credit quality is getting better. Our key initiatives are accelerating. Our lending engine continues to be one of the strongest in the industry. Our expenses are well controlled. And so I just feel like we're about to hit our stride and our plans that we put in place over two years ago to make that happen are starting to happen.

15 和 15。我們一直在談的就是這個，David：15% 的股東權益報酬率（ROE）以及 15% 的每股盈餘（EPS）成長。因此我認為我們正站在門檻上，真的開始有能力做到這點。我們的信用品質正在改善；我們的關鍵計畫正在加速；我們的放款引擎仍是業界最強之一；我們的費用控管良好。所以我覺得我們即將進入發力期，而我們在兩年前為了促成這件事所制定的計畫，也正開始逐步實現。

So I'm pretty excited about our ability to do that. And not -- hitting a 15% return is one thing, having a 15% earnings growth in one year is one thing, but being able to do it over a sustained period is something pretty unique. And that's exactly what we're trying to build. We're trying to constantly be looking for things that will augment our core lending engine, but add on to it so that over time we always have something next that's going to drive the next generation of our growth.

所以我對我們能做到這一點感到相當興奮。而且——達成 15% 的報酬率是一回事，在一年內達成 15% 的盈餘成長是一回事，但能在一段持續的期間內做到，這是相當獨特的。而這正是我們想要打造的。我們一直在尋找能夠強化我們核心放款引擎的事物，同時在其上加碼，讓我們隨著時間推移，總是有下一個能驅動下一代成長的動能。

And so we firmly believe that we've got it right now with checking and LOE carrying us over the next several years. We're still working on embedded banking, which we're very excited about. And we've got endless possibilities with AI. So I think Live Oak is better positioned than we have been in years to generate top-tier returns.

因此我們堅信，現在支票業務與 LOE 將帶領我們走過未來幾年。我們仍在推進嵌入式銀行（embedded banking），我們對此非常興奮。而且在 AI 方面，我們有無限的可能性。所以我認為，Live Oak 的定位比我們多年來任何時候都更有利於創造頂尖水準的報酬。

(Operator Instructions) Janet Lee, TD Cowen.

（接線員指示）Janet Lee，TD Cowen。

Could you talk to us a little bit more about where you think we are in the small business credit cycle, if I were to say that. It looks like you're pointing to some improving and stable small business default trends. The non-guaranteed NPAs uptick a little bit, maybe some of -- it looks like a lot of that is driven by the verticals that you exited. So where do you think we are in the process? Is it getting better or because of the macro uncertainty that we're in? Are you seeing a little bit more pressure, if at all?

你能否再多談一點你認為我們目前處於小型企業信用循環的哪個階段？看起來你們指出小型企業違約趨勢正在改善並趨於穩定。非擔保 NPA 稍微上升一些，可能其中——看起來很大一部分是由你們退出的垂直領域所驅動。所以你認為我們在這個過程中處於什麼位置？是在變好，還是因為我們所處的宏觀不確定性，你們是否看到一些額外壓力（如果有的話）？

Yes. Michael again here to take that question. So I'll go back to that slide that BJ walked us through where you could see the industry trends. And you see that the industry is still grappling with some headwinds here, whereas we have been flat for some time. And I credit that to a couple of things: one, being pretty proactive in addressing and recognizing the environment we were in.

是的。我是 Michael，再次來回答這個問題。我會回到 BJ 帶我們看過的那張投影片，你可以看到產業趨勢。你會看到整個產業仍在面對一些逆風，而我們一段時間以來一直維持持平。我把這歸因於幾件事：第一，我們相當積極主動地去因應並辨識我們所處的環境。

And the environment was and the driver of that credit cycle was really about rapidly rising interest rates on our customer base. So we were underwriting loans in record low interest rates and then experiencing really high interest rates.

而那個環境，以及推動該信用循環的因素，主要是利率快速上升對我們客戶群造成的影響。我們是在史上極低利率時承作放款，接著又遭遇非常高的利率。

That for us, at least, I can't speak to the rest of the industry, but for Live Oak, that component of this cycle is largely behind us. 85% or more of our portfolio was underwritten at interest rates that are higher or at least on par with where we are today. And so we've gotten past that interest rate risk that was part of the big component of the cycle. And the economic uncertainty out there. Every morning, you wake up and there's a different headline, and we're talking about that. And so we're having conversations with our customers on the front end in our portfolio, just talking about fuel costs, how that could impact their business.

至少對我們而言——我無法代表產業其他同業，但對 Live Oak 來說，這個循環中的那個部分大致已經過去了。我們投組中 85% 以上是在較高利率、或至少與今天相當的利率水準下承作的。因此，我們已經度過了那個作為本循環重要組成部分的利率風險。至於外部的經濟不確定性，每天早上醒來都有不同的新聞標題，我們也在討論這些。因此我們在投組前端與客戶進行對話，討論燃料成本以及它可能如何影響他們的業務。

It certainly, if this is prolonged, could impact -- it will impact the business community, the small business community and all of us across operating expenses. But we don't have verticals that are focused in industries that are heavily dependent on fuel cost is a big component of their operating expenses. So it will be an indirect impact to all of our businesses. But that's why we underwrite to higher debt service coverage covenants. We build in that cushion because we know inflationary events will happen. And so that's a big part of what our underwriting credit team do. So I'm watching it closely. We're talking about it a lot. But right now, I feel pretty good about where we sit.

當然，如果這種情況持續很久，可能會影響——它將影響商業社群、小型企業社群，以及我們所有人的營運費用。但我們並沒有專注於那些高度依賴燃料成本、且燃料成本在其營運費用中占比很大的產業垂直領域。因此它會對我們所有企業造成間接影響。但這也是為什麼我們在承作時會要求較高的債務償付覆蓋率（DSCR）契約。我們會建立緩衝，因為我們知道通膨事件會發生。而這是我們授信承作團隊工作的重要一環。所以我會密切關注，我們也經常討論。但就目前而言，我對我們所處的位置感覺相當不錯。

And Michael, you'll remember, if you look at slide 6, that in the previous administration, the SBA loosened the rules. And there are a lot of lenders that took advantage of that in the gain on sale of dollars. And we stuck as always to our guiding principles of soundness, profitability and growth. And that is part of the reason for that slide being there.

而且 Michael，你會記得，如果你看第 6 張投影片，在前一屆政府期間，SBA 放寬了規則。有很多放款機構利用這一點來賺取出售收益（gain on sale）的美元。我們則一如既往地堅持我們的指導原則：穩健、獲利與成長。這也是那張投影片放在那裡的部分原因。

Got it. And for the first quarter, expenses came in much better than where the Street was despite some typical seasonal headwinds there. Obviously, you're also investing into your franchise and you talked about the AI initiatives. Can you speak to any updated thoughts on your expenses, how the expense trajectory should look like for the rest of 2026 or whether there's like an efficiency ratio target? How should we think about that aspect?

了解。第一季費用表現比華爾街預期好很多，儘管有一些典型的季節性逆風。顯然你們也在投資於你們的特許經營（franchise），並且談到了 AI 計畫。你能否談談你們對費用的最新看法、2026 年剩餘期間費用走勢應該如何，或是否有像效率比率（efficiency ratio）的目標？我們應該如何看待這一塊？

Yes. Janet, this is Walt. I think you hit the nail on the head. I think we -- Q1 expenses -- we had some things internally that we're working through at the end of last year that kind of help bring that down here in Q1. But if the average over the last, call it, five quarters or so, it's been just above $85 million, that's kind of in line with what you see here in Q1 as well.

是的。Janet，我是 Walt。我想你說得很到位。我們——第一季費用——去年年底我們內部有一些事情正在處理，這在第一季某種程度上幫助把費用降下來。但如果看過去大概五個季度左右的平均值，一直略高於 8,500 萬美元，這也與你在第一季看到的水準一致。

That's a good run rate kind of moving forward for us with maybe slight upticks here and there as we think about potential areas where we can invest. And kind of how I think about that, right, there's always a balance, right? We are an innovative company that's the high growth, and we want to make sure that we're supporting that growth and we're supporting our key initiatives, especially Live Oak Express and business checking.

這是我們往前看的不錯的常態化費用水準（run rate），可能會因為我們考慮一些可投資的領域而在某些時點略有上升。我對此的看法是，對吧，永遠需要平衡。我們是一家創新、且高成長的公司，我們要確保支援這個成長並支援我們的關鍵計畫，特別是 Live Oak Express 與企業支票（business checking）。

And really, the way we evaluate kind of potential investment in that space is what can we do to accelerate that because as BJ mentioned, there's quite a bit of earnings accretion that those two initiatives specifically can drive. So those are things that we think about as you invest in that space, there's always opportunities to get it more efficient in other spaces, and that's where AI comes into play.

而我們評估在那個領域潛在投資的方式，主要是：我們能做什麼來加速它？因為如 BJ 所提到的，這兩項計畫尤其能帶來相當可觀的盈餘增厚（earnings accretion）。所以當你在那個領域投資時，我們也會思考：在其他領域總是有機會提升效率，而這就是 AI 發揮作用的地方。

So largely through 2026, I think that balances out. I think you kind of stay where we're at now, plus or minus on a quarterly basis through the rest of the year. That will help with that, coupled with the revenue growth, we'll see our efficiency ratio kind of trade down to the, call it, low to mid-50s. And like I mentioned in my prepared remarks, that's exactly the trend that we've really been positioning ourselves to achieve and hopefully continue that trend past 2026 and outperform as we get to 2027 and beyond.

因此在 2026 年的大部分時間裡，我認為這會達到平衡。你大致會維持在我們現在的水準，全年剩餘時間按季度來看上下小幅波動。這將有助於——再加上營收成長——讓我們的效率比率逐步下降到大約 50% 出頭到 50% 中段。我在事先準備的發言中也提到，這正是我們一直在定位自己要達成的趨勢，並希望在 2026 年之後持續延伸這個趨勢，隨著我們邁向 2027 年及以後而表現更佳、超越預期。

And at this time, we have no other questions registered. I would like to turn the call over to Chairman and CEO, Chip Mahan.

此時，我們沒有其他已登記的提問。我想把電話會議交回給董事長兼執行長 Chip Mahan。

That's a wrap, guys. We enjoyed it. See you next quarter.

就到這裡，各位。我們很享受這次交流。下個季度見。

Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, this does indeed conclude your conference call for today. Once again, thank you for attending. And at this time, we do ask that you please disconnect your lines. Enjoy the rest of your day.

謝謝您，先生。各位女士、先生，今天的電話會議確實到此結束。再次感謝各位參與。此時也請各位掛斷您的線路。祝您今天剩餘時間愉快。