NII growth has decelerated sharply — 2026Q2 NII of $12.3M fell 9.6% sequentially against a reported 0.0% NIM, while fee income of $681.9K left non-interest revenue at just 5.3% of the $14.0M total.
Chicago Atlantic BDC, Inc. (LIEN) annual income statement — 6-year revenue, gross profit & net income history
| Metric | TTM | Dec'25 | Dec'24 | Dec'23 | Dec'22 | Mar'22 | Mar'21 |
|---|
| Net Interest Income | 51.75M | 48.02M | 19.91M | 11.74M | 0 | 10.07K | 0 |
| NII Growth % | 444.47% | 141.23% | 69.6% | - | -100% | - | - |
| Net Interest Margin % | 15.05% | 14.04% | 6.43% | 13.25% | 0% | 0.01% | 0% |
| Interest Income | 53.95M | 49.27M | 19.91M | 11.74M | 0 | 10.07K | 0 |
| Interest Expense | 2.21M | 1.25M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Loan Loss Provision | 5.69M | 11.1M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-Interest Income | -1.79M | 5.03M | -1.93M | -1.71M | 4.05M | 0 | 0 |
| Non-Interest Income % | -3.59% | 9.49% | -10.76% | -17% | 100% | 0% | - |
| Total Net Revenue | 49.96M | 53.05M | 17.97M | 10.03M | 4.05M | 10.07K | 0 |
| Revenue Growth % | 58.95% | 195.21% | 79.15% | 147.88% | 40075.37% | - | - |
| Non-Interest Expense | 10.57M | 7.42M | 8.35M | 2.69M | 1.98M | 573.44K | 958.29K |
| Efficiency Ratio | 21.15% | 13.99% | 46.46% | 26.83% | 49.05% | 5692.82% | - |
| Operating Income | 33.71M | 34.53M | 9.62M | 7.34M | 2.06M | -563.37K | -958.29K |
| Operating Margin % | 67.47% | 65.08% | 53.54% | 73.17% | 50.95% | -5592.82% | - |
| Operating Income Growth % | - | 258.83% | 31.1% | 255.97% | 466.02% | 41.21% | - |
| Pretax Income | 31.68M | 33.28M | 9.62M | 7.34M | 1.71M | -563.37K | -958.29K |
| Pretax Margin % | 63.41% | 62.73% | 53.54% | 73.17% | 42.21% | -5592.82% | - |
| Income Tax | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Effective Tax Rate % | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Net Income | 31.68M | 33.28M | 9.62M | 7.34M | 1.71M | -563.37K | -958.29K |
| Net Margin % | 63.41% | 62.73% | 53.54% | 73.17% | 42.21% | -5592.82% | - |
| Net Income Growth % | 31.95% | 245.85% | 31.1% | 329.72% | 403.2% | 41.21% | - |
| Net Income (Continuing) | 31.68M | 33.28M | 9.62M | 7.34M | 1.71M | -563.37K | -958.29K |
| EPS (Diluted) | 1.39 | 1.46 | 0.93 | 1.18 | 0.31 | -0.64 | -1.09 |
| EPS Growth % | -32.31% | 56.99% | -21.19% | 280.65% | 148.44% | 41.28% | - |
| EPS (Basic) | - | 1.46 | 0.93 | 1.18 | 0.31 | -0.64 | -1.09 |
| Diluted Shares Outstanding | 22.82M | 22.82M | 10.34M | 6.21M | 5.55M | 877.41K | 877.41K |
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying LIEN stock.
For fiscal year 2025, Chicago Atlantic BDC, Inc. (LIEN) reported total revenue of $53.1M.
Chicago Atlantic BDC, Inc. (LIEN) is profitable, generating $33.3M in net income for the fiscal year ending 2025 with a net profit margin of 62.7%.
Chicago Atlantic BDC, Inc. (LIEN) reported an operating income of $34.5M, resulting in an operating profit margin of 65.1%. This margin reflects the operational efficiency of the business before interest and taxes.
Chicago Atlantic BDC, Inc. (LIEN) generated $42.0M in gross profit for the year, representing a gross profit margin of 79.1%. This demonstrates the company's core pricing power and production efficiency.
Key Metrics
Top Statement Risk
Emerging credit costs amid vanishing spread income
Metrics are mathematically derived from official filings.
NII Scale-Up Plateaus After Rapid Expansion
According to Chicago Atlantic's reported figures, net interest income scaled from $2.7 million in 2024Q1 to $13.6 million by 2026Q1, but 2026Q2 pulled back to $12.3 million, a 9.6% sequential decline that suggests the rapid balance-sheet expansion may be hitting an inflection point.
The step-change between 2024Q3 ($2.7M) and 2024Q4 ($11.7M) appears far too large to be organic loan growth alone and more plausibly reflects an origination ramp, capital raise deployment, or portfolio acquisition; investors should treat the pre- and post-2024Q4 periods as structurally different operating bases. Since that jump, NII has oscillated in a $11.1M–$13.8M band rather than compounding, implying growth momentum has flattened. The 2026Q2 sequential contraction, paired with a 0.0% NIM, suggests the driver has shifted from volume to spread, which is a weaker and more cyclical form of growth.
NIM Compression Signals Spread Squeeze
As disclosed in Chicago Atlantic's quarterly financials, net interest margin peaked at 4.2% in 2025Q3 but collapsed to 0.0% in 2026Q2, indicating asset yields have converged with funding costs and materially eroding the spread economics that underpin this lender's core earnings power.
The margin trajectory from 3.5% (2025Q2) to 4.2% (2025Q3) and then down to 0.0% is unusually volatile for a spread-based book, and may reflect floating-rate resets, shorter-duration repricing, or a rising cost of leverage facilities outpacing asset yield gains. A zero NIM alongside $12.3 million of NII implies the reported margin metric may be capturing only a subset of the earning-asset base, which warrants further investigation. Either way, the direction of travel suggests the rate environment has turned from tailwind to headwind, and any further cuts could compress NII even if loan volumes hold.
Provisions Emerge After Eight Clean Quarters
Chicago Atlantic booked zero provisions for eight consecutive quarters before recognizing $3.1 million in 2026Q1 and $2.6 million in 2026Q2, a sudden credit-cost pattern that may indicate portfolio deterioration crystallizing after an extended period of benign loss experience.
The absence of provisioning through 2025 while NII grew suggests either genuinely pristine credit or a lag in loss recognition; the abrupt $5.7 million charge over two quarters appears more consistent with a portfolio reaching a deterioration threshold that management could no longer defer. The two provisions together consume roughly 8% of the trailing four quarters' pre-provision operating income, which meaningfully dampens the earnings quality story. The pace of provisioning should be tracked closely, as consecutive non-zero quarters typically mark the start of a cycle rather than a one-off event.
Fee Income Volatility Undermines Revenue Mix
Non-income swings from -$3.0 million in 2025Q3 to $2.1 million in 2026Q1 and back to $681.9 thousand in 2026Q2 leave fee contribution at just 5.3% of revenue, per Chicago Atlantic's filings, pointing to valuation-mark sensitivity rather than durable recurring fee streams.
The negative non-interest prints across multiple quarters suggest these line items are dominated by unrealized mark-to-market movements on portfolio holdings, not contractual fee income, which means they should be discounted heavily in any normalized earnings framework. The fee share of revenue has swung from -29.9% to +13.5% within six quarters, an amplitude that offers no reliable anchor for forecasting. Investors should treat the headline revenue line as misleading and anchor instead on NII and pre-provision operating income as the truest reflection of earning power.
Zero NIM Print Challenges Earnings Durability
The 0.0% NIM in 2026Q2 paired with $2.6 million of fresh provisions warrants analytical scrutiny; if spread income has effectively disappeared while credit costs materialize, Chicago Atlantic's $7.1 million operating income may rest on components that could prove non-recurring or rate-dependent.
The efficiency ratio has deteriorated from 15.8% (2025Q2) to 25.6% (2026Q2) on a shrinking revenue base, which means operating leverage has turned negative even before considering further credit provisioning — a setup that compresses earnings quickly if NII continues to soften. With EPS already down 28.9% year-over-year and the provision line activated, the market's implied multiple should be pressure-tested against a scenario where NIM stays near zero and provisioning normalizes at current run rates. The core challenge to the thesis is that the strong 2025 results may have benefited from a rate and credit environment that is now visibly reversing, and reported figures alone do not confirm a durable offset.