Hercules Capital Q4 Earnings Meet Estimates, Expenses Rise Y/Y

Hercules Capital Inc.’s HTGC fourth-quarter 2025 net investment income of 48 cents per share met the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The bottom line, however, declined 2% from the year-ago quarter.

Results were primarily aided by an increase in the total investment income. Also, the balance sheet position remained decent, and new commitments were robust. However, a rise in operating expenses was a headwind.

Net investment income was $87 million, up 7.2% year over year.

For 2025, net investment income of $1.91 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. The bottom line declined 4.5% from the previous year. Net investment income was $341.7 million, up 4.9% year over year.

HTGC’s Total Investment Income Improves, Expenses Rise

Total investment income in the fourth quarter was $137.4 million, rising 12.8% from the year-ago quarter. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $136.7 million.

Full-year total investment income was $532.5 million, rising 7.9% from the year-ago quarter. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $531.8 million.

Total quarterly gross operating expenses increased 26.3% year over year to $54.9 million. The rise was due to an increase in almost all cost components except for general and administrative expenses.

HTGC’s Portfolio Value & New Commitments Solid

The fair value of Hercules Capital’s total investment portfolio was $4.47 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.

In the fourth quarter, the company delivered $1.1 billion in gross new debt and equity commitments and $522.3 million in gross new funding. It realized early loan repayments of $149.7 million.

Hercules Capital’s Balance Sheet Position Decent

As of Dec. 31, 2025, Hercules Capital’s net asset value was $12.13 per share, up from $11.40 as of Dec. 31, 2024.

As of Dec. 31, 2025, the company had $525.5 million in liquidity, including $57 million of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, and $468.5 million in credit facilities.

At the end of the quarter, the weighted average cost of debt, comprising interest and fees, was 5.1%, up from 5% at the end of the prior-year quarter.

Our View on HTGC

Rising demand for customized financing will likely aid Hercules Capital’s total investment income. However, the absence of global diversification limits the company’s growth prospects. Efforts to improve originations will likely keep expenses elevated, hurting bottom-line expansion.

Hercules Capital, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Hercules Capital, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Hercules Capital, Inc. Quote

Currently, Hercules Capital carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Finance Companies

Credit Acceptance Corporation’s CACC fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $11.35 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10.30. Also, the bottom line increased 11.6% year over year.

CACC’s results were aided by an improvement in revenues. However, an increase in operating expenses and provisions hurt the results to some extent.

Capital One’s COF fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $3.86 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.12. However, the bottom line compared favorably with adjusted earnings of $3.09 in the prior-year quarter.

COF’s results were primarily hurt by an increase in expenses and higher provisions. However, an improvement in net interest income, along with higher non-interest income, offered support to some extent. Also, higher loan balances created a tailwind.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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