- Key insight: Even after a transformative merger, voracious hiring remains a hallmark of Pinnacle's strategy.
- Supporting data: In the second quarter of 2026, the Atlanta-based company hired 74 bankers.
- Expert quote: "It's not slowing down. It's picking up." —Pinnacle CEO Kevin Blair
Many companies lay off workers after a big merger.
The Atlanta-based bank holding company, which
The
"The real core to our model is hiring new revenue producers, and those new revenue producers come over and bring their clients with them," Blair said during the $129 billion-asset firm's second quarter earnings call.
Long before the merger with Synovus, Pinnacle was known for its
Since the two banks combined, Pinnacle has kept that model, offering it throughout Synovus' former footprint. In the second quarter, the company said, about half of the new hires were made in what had been Synovus' core markets, including Georgia and Florida.
In Blair's view, this approach more than pays for itself by bringing in new clients, who lead to yet more hires.
"It's a cycle that builds on itself," Blair said during Thursday's call. "When you hire a revenue producer, they bring a Rolodex with them, and they talk to our team about which team members need to join with them. And so what you see when we hire is, it's not one individual; it generally comes with two and three and four."
But that doesn't mean Pinnacle's net headcount was up in the second quarter. In fact, the firm's total number of employees was 8,490 — exactly flat from last quarter. In its slide presentation, Pinnacle attributed this to "merger-related synergies … offset by growth-related hiring."
Among the latest hires, Pinnacle said, are former market presidents, regional managers and other executives. They come from lenders including JPMorganChase, Morgan Stanley and Santander Bank, and they bring experience in commercial banking, treasury management, wealth management and other areas. Geographically, they span Pinnacle's wide footprint, from Florida to Tennessee to the Washington, D.C. area.
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Considering how many bankers Pinnacle has already hired, one analyst on Thursday's call asked whether the bank might face diminishing returns in terms of the caliber of its new recruits.
Blair said he's not worried. The quality of employees' experiences at Pinnacle, he said, will attract the best in the industry.
"Absolutely, there are enough bankers to continue to add," Blair said. "It's not slowing down. It's picking up."
In the second quarter, Pinnacle's earnings per share came out to $2.07, surpassing analysts' consensus estimate of $1.95, according to S&P Capital IQ.
Net income was $328 million, a 118% increase from the
Loans were a particular highlight. In the second quarter, total loans reached $88.1 billion, up 3% from the prior quarter.
Interest expenses were $612 million, up from $581 million in the first quarter. But non-interest expenses dropped to $721 million, down from $952 million one quarter ago.
"We were encouraged by loan growth, hiring momentum, lower expenses and excellent credit trends," Catherine Mealor, an analyst for Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, wrote in a research note.
All in all, Blair viewed the results as proof that the Synovus merger has not slowed Pinnacle down.
"Most firms lose a step during integration," the CEO said. "Yet we are gaining share and deepening client relationships in the middle of a merger."
