Community banking company Columbia Financial (NASDAQ: CLBK) reported revenue ahead of Wall Streets expectations in Q4 CY2025, with sales up 247% year on year to $68.78 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.16 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Columbia Financial (CLBK) Q4 CY2025 Highlights:
- Net Interest Income: $60.22 million vs analyst estimates of $59.2 million (29.7% year-on-year growth, 1.7% beat)
- Net Interest Margin: 2.4% vs analyst estimates of 2.3% (2 basis point beat)
- Revenue: $68.78 million vs analyst estimates of $59.2 million (247% year-on-year growth, 16.2% beat)
- Efficiency Ratio: 68.4% vs analyst estimates of 68% (42 basis point miss)
- Adjusted EPS: $0.16 vs analyst estimates of $0.15 (in line)
- Tangible Book Value per Share: $10.03 vs analyst estimates of $9.89 (6.2% year-on-year growth, 1.4% beat)
- Market Capitalization: $1.70 billion
Thomas J. Kemly, President and Chief Executive Officer commented: "We are pleased with the results we achieved in 2025, which reflect our strategies of focusing on margin expansion, improving our asset mix by continuing to expand commercial lending, efficiency improvement through technology and investing in the infrastructure required for sustainable growth. The Company maintained a strong balance sheet and capital position, which will allow us to continue to benefit from an improving economic environment."
Company Overview
Founded during the Roaring Twenties in 1926 and headquartered in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, Columbia Financial (NASDAQ: CLBK) operates federally chartered savings banks in New Jersey that offer traditional banking services including loans, deposits, and insurance products.
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. Unfortunately, Columbia Financial’s 1.4% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was weak. This fell short of our benchmarks 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. Columbia Financial’s annualized revenue growth of 4.8% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, but we were still disappointed by the results. 
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, Columbia Financial reported magnificent year-on-year revenue growth of 247%, and its $68.78 million of revenue beat Wall Street’s estimates by 16.2%.
Net interest income made up 95.9% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning Columbia Financial lives and dies by its lending activities because non-interest income barely moves the needle.
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.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.
This is why we consider tangible book value per share (TBVPS) the most important metric to track for banks. TBVPS represents the real, liquid net worth per share of a bank, excluding intangible assets that have debatable value upon liquidation. EPS can become murky due to acquisition impacts or accounting flexibility around loan provisions, and TBVPS resists financial engineering manipulation.
Columbia Financial’s TBVPS grew at a tepid 3.8% annual clip over the last five years. However, TBVPS growth has accelerated recently, growing by 5.4% annually over the last two years from $9.03 to $10.03 per share.
Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for Columbia Financial’s TBVPS to grow by 19.1% to $11.95, top-notch growth rate.
Key Takeaways from Columbia Financial’s Q4 Results
We were impressed by how significantly Columbia Financial blew past analysts’ revenue expectations this quarter. We were also happy its net interest income outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, we think this was a decent quarter with some key metrics above expectations. The stock remained flat at $17.72 immediately after reporting.
Is Columbia Financial an attractive investment opportunity at the current price? What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
