USCB Financial Holdings Guides Q4 Net Interest Margin in 3.40% Range

USCB Financial Holdings expects its net interest margin in the 3.40% range in Q4 after reporting 3.37% in Q3, down from 3.49% in Q2.

Robert Anderson, chief financial officer of USCB Financial Holdings, said on an earnings call Friday, Oct. 23, that the company could hold or improve net interest margin in Q4. “We guide to the 3.40% range,” Anderson said. He described September’s 3.41% reading as the month-end exit rate, distinct from the quarter’s average.

The Q3 average was 3.37%, down from 3.49% in Q2 and above 3.14% in Q3 2025. The quarter-to-quarter contraction totaled 12 basis points: seven came from lower net loan fee income, three from a change in funding mix and two from softer returns on other earning assets.

USCB added four deposit-focused bankers in October, hiring the group from an unnamed national competitor. The bankers had overseen a combined deposit portfolio above $700 million. The figure describes what they had managed; it is not a disclosed amount of new deposits at USCB.

At Sept. 30, USCB’s end-of-period deposits stood at $2.446 billion, compared with $2.452 billion at June 30. Q3’s average balance was $2.5 billion, $22.3 million higher than Q2, equal to a 3.6% gain at an annualized pace. The quarter-end balance is a point-in-time reading, while the average reflects deposits across the quarter; the two measures moved in different directions.

USCB earned $9.5 million in Q3, or 51 cents a diluted share, against $8.9 million and 45 cents a year earlier. The quarter delivered the holding company’s highest net income since its 2021 IPO. Noninterest income fell 27.5% from a year earlier to $2.7 million.

At quarter-end, nonperforming loans totaled $7.7 million and equaled 0.33% of total loans, up from $2.1 million, or 0.09%, at June 30. USCB tied most of the rise to one loan.

Anderson’s Q4 cost outlook was about $15 million or slightly higher. The projection included a full quarter of recent hiring, the four-person deposit group and performance-based incentives.