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SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2026
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Common Stock
The Company’s common stock has no par value and each holder of common stock is entitled to one vote for each share held (though certain voting restrictions may exist on non-vested restricted stock).
On April 22, 2026, the Company authorized the repurchase of up to $5,000,000 of the Company’s common stock, no par value, from time to time (the 2026 Repurchase Plan). On April 29, 2026, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System advised the Company that it had no objection to the Company’s 2026 Repurchase Plan. The 2026 Repurchase Plan is effective for one year beginning June 12, 2026, the date the prior repurchase plan expired.
The Company may repurchase shares in privately negotiated transactions, in the open market, including pursuant to any trading plan that may be adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 promulgated by the SEC, or otherwise in a manner that complies with applicable federal securities laws. The 2026 Repurchase Plan does not obligate the Company to acquire a specific dollar amount or number of shares and it may be extended, modified or discontinued at any time without notice. During the six months ended June 30, 2026, the Company repurchased 6,123 shares. During the year ended December 31, 2025, the Company repurchased 40,333 shares. As of June 30, 2026, there was $5,000,000 value of shares available for repurchase under the 2026 Repurchase Plan.
Stock-Based Compensation Plans
The 2008 Stock Incentive Plan (the 2008 Plan) was frozen in connection with the adoption of First Western Financial, Inc. 2016 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the 2016 Plan) and no new awards may be granted under the 2008 Plan. Remaining shares not issued under the 2008 Plan were authorized to be issued under the 2016 Plan. Effective June 4, 2025, the Company’s stockholders approved the First Western Financial, Inc. Omnibus Incentive Plan, as amended and restated April 23, 2025 (the Omnibus Plan), which included an increase of 150,000 shares to the Omnibus Plan’s share reserve. The Omnibus Plan is a continuation, and amendment and restatement, of the 2016 Plan. As of June 30, 2026, there were a total of 410,425 shares available for issuance under the Omnibus Plan. To the extent that an award granted under the Omnibus Plan is canceled, expired, forfeited, surrendered, settled by delivery of fewer shares than the number underlying the award, settled in cash or otherwise terminated without delivery of the shares to the participant, the shares retained by or returned to the Company will not be deemed to have been delivered under the Omnibus Plan, and will be available for future awards under the Omnibus Plan, subject to a maximum of 1,500,000 shares.
Stock Options
The Company did not grant any stock options during the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025.
During the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, the Company recognized no stock based compensation expense associated with stock options. As of June 30, 2026, the Company has no unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to stock options.
The following presents activity for nonqualified stock options during the six months ended June 30, 2026:
Number of OptionsWeighted Average Exercise PriceWeighted Average Remaining Contractual TermAggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding as of December 31, 202517,744$26.77 
Forfeited or expired(2,000)25.00 
Outstanding as of June 30, 202615,74427.00 0.27 years
(1)
Options fully vested / exercisable as of June 30, 202615,74427.00 0.27 years
(1)
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(1)Nonqualified stock options outstanding at the end of the period and those fully vested/exercisable had immaterial aggregate intrinsic values.
As of June 30, 2026, there were 15,744 options that were exercisable. The exercise price for all exercisable options is $27.00 per share, and the options are exercisable for a period of ten years from the original grant date and expire in 2026.
Restricted Stock Units
Pursuant to the Omnibus Plan, the Company may grant associates and non-associate directors long-term cash and stock-based compensation. Historically, the Company has granted certain associates restricted stock units which are earned over time or based on various performance measures and convert to common stock upon vesting, which are summarized here and expanded further below.
The following presents the activity for the Time Vesting Units and the Financial Performance Units during the six months ended June 30, 2026:
Time
Vesting
Units		Financial
Performance
Units
Outstanding as of December 31, 2025196,728173,456
Granted51,82185,116
Vested(49,001)(14,095)
Forfeited (17,455)(7,950)
Outstanding as of June 30, 2026182,093236,527
During the three months ended June 30, 2026, the Company issued 36,161 net shares of common stock upon the settlement of Restricted Stock Units. The remaining 12,840 shares, with a combined market value at the dates of settlement of $0.4 million, were withheld to cover employee withholding taxes. During the three months ended June 30, 2025, the Company issued 39,889 net shares of common stock upon the settlement of Restricted Stock Units. The remaining 13,705 shares, with a combined market value at the dates of settlement of $0.3 million, were withheld to cover employee withholding taxes and were subsequently added back to the Company’s pool of shares available for issuance.
During the six months ended June 30, 2026, the Company issued 45,521 net shares of common stock upon the settlement of Restricted Stock Units. The remaining 17,575 shares, with a combined market value at the dates of settlement of $0.5 million, were withheld to cover employee withholding taxes. During the six months ended June 30, 2025, the Company issued 77,167 net shares of common stock upon the settlement of Restricted Stock Units. The remaining 31,044 shares, with a combined market value at the dates of settlement of $0.6 million, were withheld to cover employee withholding taxes and were subsequently added back to the Company’s pool of shares available for issuance.
Time Vesting Units
Time Vesting Units are granted to full-time associates and members of the Board of Directors at the date approved by the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company granted 51,821 and 69,874 Time Vesting Units during the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, respectively. During the three months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, the Company recognized compensation expense of $0.3 million and $0.4 million, respectively, for the Time Vesting Units. During the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, the Company recognized compensation expense of $0.6 million and $0.7 million, respectively, for the Time Vesting Units. As of June 30, 2026, there was $3.8 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to the Time Vesting Units, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 3.6 years.
Financial Performance Units
Financial Performance Units are granted to certain key associates and are earned based on the Company achieving various financial performance metrics. If the Company achieves the financial metrics, which include various thresholds from 0% up to 600%, then the Financial Performance Units will have a subsequent vesting period.
The following presents the Company’s existing Financial Performance Units as of June 30, 2026 (dollars in thousands, except share amounts):
Grant PeriodThreshold AccrualMaximum Issuable
Shares at Current
Threshold		Unrecognized Compensation
Expense
Weighted-Average Life(1)
Financial Metric End DateVesting Requirement End Date
On May 1, 2024(2)
121 %39,850$362 2.5 yearsDecember 31, 2026December 31, 2028
On March 17, 2025(3)
200 20,886137 1.5 yearsDecember 31, 2027December 31, 2027
On May 1, 2025(2)
148 57,732905 3.5 yearsDecember 31, 2027December 31, 2029
On June 4, 2025 & March 2, 2026(4)
100 93,5921,229 2.4 yearsDecember 31, 2025, 2026 & 2027December 31, 2026, 2027, June 4, 2030 & March 2, 2031
On March 2, 2026(3)
118 9,440185 2.5 yearsDecember 31, 2028December 31, 2028
On May 1, 2026(2)
100 26,910741 4.5 yearsDecember 31, 2028December 31, 2030
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(1)Represents the expected unrecognized stock-based compensation expense recognition period.
(2)Conditioned upon pre-established three-year Operating EPS goals.
(3)Conditioned on the Company's three-year annualized total shareholder return compared to the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF.
(4)Conditioned upon pre-established Operating EPS hurdles measured over the course of each fiscal year in the performance period.
The following presents the Company’s Financial Performance Units activity for the periods noted (dollars in thousands, except share amounts):
Units GrantedCompensation Expense Recognized
Six Months Ended June 30,Three Months Ended June 30,Six Months Ended June 30,
Grant Period202620252026202520262025
On November 18, 2020——— 9 $— $19 
May 3, 2021 through August 11, 2021——— 7 (2)26 
On May 1, 20242,7697,74525 62 73 94 
On March 17, 2025—10,44323 23 46 27 
On May 1, 202519,41546,57471 34 175 34 
On June 4, 2025 & March 2, 202627,556—215 — 557 — 
On March 2, 20268,000—19 — 25 — 
On May 1, 202627,376—27 — 27 —