HOPE BANCORP INC (HOPE)

Item 2.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”)

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and the unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes set forth elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

GENERAL

Hope Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company of Bank of Hope, the only regional Korean American bank in the United States with $18.99 billion in total assets at June 30, 2026. With the addition of Territorial Savings, a division of Bank of Hope, the Company became the largest regional bank catering to multicultural customers across the continental United States and Hawaii. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Bank provides a full suite of commercial, corporate and consumer loans, deposit and fee-based products and services, including commercial and commercial real estate lending, SBA lending, residential mortgage and other consumer lending, treasury management services, foreign currency exchange solutions, interest rate derivative products, and international trade financing, among others. The Bank operates 45 full-service branches in California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Texas, Illinois, Georgia and Alabama under the Bank of Hope banner, and 28 branches in Hawaii under the Territorial Savings banner. The Bank also operates SBA loan production offices, commercial loan production offices, and residential mortgage loan production offices throughout the United States, and a representative office in Seoul, South Korea. Bank of Hope is a California-chartered bank, and its deposits are insured by the FDIC to the extent provided by law. Bank of Hope is an Equal Opportunity Lender.

The Bank’s principal business involves earning interest on loans and investment securities, primarily funded by deposits and borrowings. Operating income and net income (loss) are derived primarily from the difference between interest income received from interest earning assets and interest expense paid on interest bearing liabilities and, to a lesser extent, from fees received in connection with servicing loan and deposit accounts, providing fee-based products and services, and income from the sale of loans. Major expenses are the interest paid on deposits and borrowings, provisions for credit losses and general operating expenses, which primarily consist of salaries and employee benefits, occupancy costs, and other operating expenses. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors that are beyond our control, such as changes in the national economy and in the related monetary policies of the FRB, inflation, unemployment, consumer spending, tariffs, political changes, and other events. We cannot predict the impact that these factors and future changes in domestic and foreign economic and political conditions might have on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

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Selected Financial Data

The following tables set forth a performance overview concerning the periods indicated and should be read in conjunction with the unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes set forth elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the following Results of Operations and Financial Condition sections of this MD&A. During the second quarter of 2025, we completed the acquisition of Territorial Bancorp and repositioned our investment securities AFS portfolio. In addition, in the first quarter of 2026, we announced an upcoming acquisition of certain assets and liabilities of the Commercial Banking Unit of SMBC, the closing of which is subject to regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. The comparability of our operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025, with performance for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026, was impacted by acquisition accounting adjustments associated with the 2025 Territorial Merger, the loss on securities sold, merger-related expenses for both the Merger and SMBC acquisition, and the change in the California state tax apportionment rate. We have provided supplemental non-GAAP information to facilitate a better understanding of financial performance, identifying certain items as “notable.”

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(1)Net income (loss) excluding notable items, earnings per common share - diluted excluding notable items, TCE per share, ROTCE, ROA excluding notable items, ROE excluding notable items, ROTCE excluding notable items, efficiency ratio excluding notable items, and TCE ratio are non-GAAP financial measures that we believe provide investors with information useful in understanding our operating results and financial condition. A quantitative reconciliation of the most directly comparable GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures is provided on the following pages.

(2)Annualized.

(3)Net interest margin is calculated by dividing annualized net interest income by average total interest earning assets.

(4)Efficiency ratio is defined as noninterest expense divided by the sum of net interest income and noninterest income.

(5)The ratios generally required to meet the definition of a “well-capitalized” financial institution under certain banking regulations are 5.0% leverage capital ratio, 6.5% common equity tier 1 capital ratio, 8.0% tier 1 capital ratio, and 10.0% total capital ratio.

(6)Calculations are based on quarterly average asset balances.

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Non-GAAP Financial Measurements

We provide certain non-GAAP financial measures that we believe provide investors with meaningful supplemental information that is useful in understanding our operating results and financial condition. The methodologies for calculating non-GAAP measures may differ among companies. The following tables reconcile the non-GAAP financial measures used in this Form 10-Q to the most comparable GAAP performance measures. The non-GAAP financial measures provide information useful to investors in understanding our operating performance and trends and assist in comparing our results with the performance of our peers.

During the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, our operating results included certain notable items as a result of the 2025 Merger with Territorial, our legacy investment securities repositioning, the change in the California state tax apportionment rate, and other items. We have presented figures that adjust for these notable items because they are irregular one-time events, and we believe that doing so will help investors better understand our operating performance. The following table summarizes the impact of non-core notable items recorded

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Item 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with our Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes presented elsewhere in this Report. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under Item 1A “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Report. Please see the “Forward Looking Information” immediately preceding Part I of this Report.

Overview

Our principal business involves earning interest on loans and investment securities that are funded primarily by customer deposits, wholesale deposits, and other borrowings. Our operating income and net income are derived primarily from the difference between interest income received from interest earning assets and interest expense paid on interest bearing liabilities and, to a lesser extent, from fees received in connection with servicing loan and deposit accounts and income from the sale of loans. Our major expenses are the interest we pay on deposits and borrowings, provisions for credit losses, and general operating expenses, which primarily consist of salaries and employee benefits, occupancy costs, and other operating expenses. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors that are beyond our control, such as changes in the national economy and in the related monetary policies of the FRB, inflation, unemployment, consumer spending, and political changes and events. We cannot predict the impact that these factors and future changes in domestic and foreign economic and political conditions might have on our performance.

Our results are affected by economic conditions in our markets and to a lesser degree in South Korea. A decline in economic and business conditions in our market areas or in South Korea may have a material adverse impact on the quality of our loan portfolio or the demand for our products and services, which in turn may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

The Company completed its acquisition of Honolulu-based Territorial, the holding company of Territorial Savings Bank, effective April 2, 2025. With the acquisition of Territorial Savings, a division of Bank of Hope, the Company became the largest regional bank catering to multicultural customers across the continental United States and Hawaii.

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Selected Financial Data

The following table presents selected financial and other data for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2025. The information below should be read in conjunction with the more detailed information included elsewhere herein, including our Audited Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto. The comparability of our operating results for the year ended December 31, 2025, with past performance was impacted by acquisition accounting adjustments and merger-related expenses associated with the acquisition of Territorial Bancorp Inc. and the loss on securities sold as a result of repositioning of a portion of our investment securities. The Company has provided supplemental non-GAAP information to facilitate a better understanding of financial performance, identifying certain items as “notable”. There were no notable items for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.

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(1)    Net income excluding notable items, earnings per common share - diluted excluding notable items,

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