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Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc.’s banking business centers on financing businesses and property projects through Bridgewater Bank. Most lending serves borrowers located or investing in the Twin Cities metropolitan area in Minnesota. Commercial real estate accounts for most loans, with multifamily housing a substantial part of the portfolio. The bank also finances affordable-housing projects nationally, often providing funds at several stages of a project.
Business and consumer deposits provide the main funding for loans, supplemented by brokered deposits and borrowings. Borrowers pay interest, and the bank also earns interest on investment securities. After paying interest on its funding, the amount left—net interest income—provides most revenue. Banking service fees add a smaller stream of income.
The business depends on borrowers repaying, the income and value of the properties backing its loans, and retaining deposits at a cost that leaves room to earn a spread. Loan and funding rates can change at different speeds, affecting that spread. Its commercial real estate concentration requires heightened regulatory risk management and may require capital above regulatory minimums, limiting how much lending it can support.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc.’s results hinge on Twin Cities commercial and multifamily loan quality and competition for deposits, including from U.S. Bank, which is missing from this list.
Bankwell Financial Group Inc shares Bridgewater’s exposure to business borrowing and commercial property credit: both lend through close client relationships and earn interest from business and property borrowers. Commercial real estate made up 67.99% of Bankwell’s loans at December 31, 2025, making that portfolio’s credit quality a useful comparison for Bridgewater.
First Business Financial Services, Inc. offers a comparison for Bridgewater’s ability to win business loans and deposits without a large retail branch network: both focus on commercial clients and earn interest from lending. Watch First Business’s deposits gathered through client relationships alongside its lending to small and medium-sized businesses.
The supplied ConnectOne business profile for Center Bancorp Inc points to the same earnings balance as Bridgewater: both serve business clients with relatively few branches, fund lending mainly with deposits and rely heavily on interest earned minus funding interest paid—net interest income. ConnectOne’s deposit costs and interest income from business lending are the useful comparison.
Mercantile Bank Corp shares Bridgewater’s sensitivity to interest rates through loans to businesses, commercial properties and construction projects. Watch Mercantile’s floating-rate commercial property loans and arrangements that let borrowers exchange floating for fixed interest payments—interest-rate swaps—as comparisons for Bridgewater’s loan repricing and swap fees.
First Mid Bancshares, Inc. shares Bridgewater’s reliance on lending revenue and exposure to commercial property borrowers who pay interest on their loans. Lending generated approximately 74% of First Mid’s revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025, so its commercial real estate loan quality and lending income are useful comparisons.
Princeton Bancorp, Inc. shares Bridgewater’s exposure to multifamily, commercial property and construction borrowing: both use deposits to fund loans and earn interest from borrowers. Princeton’s multifamily and commercial mortgage lending offers a comparison for the property lending conditions Bridgewater faces.
Wells Fargo & Co. competes directly with Bridgewater for Twin Cities deposits that fund lending and for businesses paying for loans and banking services. As of June 30, 2025, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank together held 58.96% of the area’s deposits versus Bridgewater’s 1.84%, making Wells Fargo’s local deposit and commercial banking offers worth watching.
Business First Bancshares, Inc. shares Bridgewater’s exposure to business borrowing and property development, with both relying on local banking relationships to lend to businesses and developers who pay loan interest. Its b1BANK business credit lines and construction lending offer a comparison for demand among those borrowers.
Bridgewater Bancshares, Inc. earningsThis company
Bridgewater Bancshares earns mainly from the gap between loan interest and funding costs, and its report will show whether that gap is holding up and losses on commercial property loans are rising.
Read net interest margin, deposit funding and the provision for credit losses together. Net interest margin measures interest earned after interest paid, relative to average earning assets. A steady or wider margin, core deposits continuing to fund loans and no sharp rise in credit-loss provisions would show that funding costs and expected losses are not eating away much of the income. A narrower margin, weaker support from core deposits or rising provisions would point to funding pressure or borrower risk eroding it.
Mercantile Bank Corp earningsMBWM
Mercantile Bank's report will show how its floating-rate commercial property loans and interest-rate swaps are changing, offering a comparison for Bridgewater Bancshares' loan repricing and swap-fee income.
Look at the yield or repricing of Mercantile Bank's floating-rate commercial property loans alongside fees from interest-rate swaps. Strength in both would show those income sources remain supportive comparisons for Bridgewater Bancshares' rate-sensitive business; weakness in both would mean less support from those channels. The comparison is a signal, not proof that Bridgewater Bancshares will move the same way.
Housing Starts (Sep)
For Bridgewater Bank, measures of new-home building track activity relevant to its single-family construction, land-development and finished-lot loans, which can bring in loan interest and fees and depend on projects being completed and repaid.
Expected1.31MLast release1.275M
If it comes in above expectations
If the reading is above the 1.31M estimate, it is above the previous 1.275M. More homes started, permitted or sold can support demand for Bridgewater Bank's construction and land loans and help projects progress toward repayment, though the effect depends on the borrowers and projects it finances.
If it comes in below expectations
Fewer homes started, permitted or sold can weaken demand for Bridgewater Bank's construction and land loans and make project completion or repayment harder, potentially reducing loan income and increasing credit losses.
Center Bancorp Inc earningsCNOB
ConnectOne's report will show how interest income from business lending compares with deposit costs, a useful check on Bridgewater Bancshares' income from lending after funding costs.
Compare ConnectOne's interest income from business loans with what it pays for deposits. If loan income holds up while deposit costs ease, the pressure from paying depositors is lessening, a favorable comparison for Bridgewater Bancshares' net interest income. If loan income weakens while deposit costs stay high, it signals a squeeze on the spread. The banks have different customers and loan books, so one result does not establish the other's.
Business First Bancshares, Inc. earningsBFST
Business First Bancshares' report will show activity in business credit lines and construction lending, offering a comparison for demand among the businesses and developers Bridgewater Bancshares also serves.
Look at Business First Bancshares' business credit-line and construction-lending activity. Growth in both would point to firmer borrowing demand among businesses and developers, a positive demand comparison for Bridgewater Bancshares' customers; weaker activity would suggest cooling demand. Lending also reflects a bank's own decisions about extending credit, so it cannot by itself prove that customer demand changed.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
For Bridgewater Bank, Fed rate decisions affect what it earns on loans and securities versus what it pays depositors and other funders, shaping net interest income as those rates reset at different speeds.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
If rates rise, loan and securities yields may lift income, but Bridgewater Bank may also pay more for deposits and wholesale funding; whichever side resets faster determines the effect on its margin.
If it comes in below expectations
If rates fall, loan and securities yields may reduce income, while deposit and wholesale funding costs may also ease; the margin effect depends on which rates reset sooner.
Bankwell Financial Group Inc earningsBWFG
Commercial real estate makes up a large share of Bankwell's loans, so its report will show how those borrowers are faring and provide a credit-quality comparison for Bridgewater Bancshares' large property-loan portfolio.
Look for changes in Bankwell's past-due or nonperforming commercial real estate loans and in its credit-loss provisions. Fewer problem loans without rising provisions would show its property borrowers are holding up, a reassuring comparison for Bridgewater Bancshares; increases would flag repayment strain among property borrowers. The banks have different markets and loan books, so this is not evidence of Bridgewater's own asset quality.
Wells Fargo & Co. earningsWFC
Wells Fargo competes with Bridgewater Bancshares for Twin Cities deposits and business clients, and its report will show whether the large bank's deposit and business-banking activity is adding to that competitive pressure.
Look at Wells Fargo's reported deposits and business-banking activity. Growth in both would show that the large bank is attracting deposits and business clients, reinforcing the competitive challenge Bridgewater Bancshares faces in the Twin Cities; weakness in both would mean less evidence of pressure from this rival. Wells Fargo's overall results, however, do not directly measure local deposit or customer flows.
