Truist Financial Q4 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Truist reported Q4 net income available to common shareholders of $1.3 billion (diluted EPS of $1.00) and full‑year 2025 net income of $5.0 billion (EPS $3.82), and reaffirmed targets of 14% ROTCE for 2026 and 15% ROTCE for 2027.
• For 2026 management guided to 4–5% revenue growth (with 3–4% net interest income growth), GAAP non‑interest expense up 1.25–2.25%, net charge‑offs around 55 bps, and approximately $4 billion of share repurchases (including $1 billion targeted in Q1).
• Balance‑sheet and business momentum: average loans rose modestly (Q4 average loans to $325 billion; +3.6% for FY), digital new‑to‑bank clients increased 10% Y/Y, NIM improved to 3.07% in Q4 with expectations to exceed 2025's 3.03% for 2026, and Truist returned $5.2 billion to shareholders in 2025 while CET1 was 10.8%.

Truist Financial NYSE: TFC reported fourth-quarter 2025 net income available to common shareholders of $1.3 billion, or $1.00 per diluted share, and full-year 2025 net income of $5.0 billion, or $3.82 per diluted share, management said on the company’s earnings call.

Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers said the company “closed 2025 with strong results and clear momentum heading into 2026,” pointing to loan growth, fee momentum in the second half of the year, and expense discipline. Truist also reiterated a longer-term profitability goal, with Rogers saying the company remains “locked in” on a 15% return on tangible common equity (ROTCE) in 2027, and added it is targeting 14% ROTCE in 2026.

Charges and quarterly drivers

CFO Mike Maguire said fourth-quarter results included a $130 million charge, or $0.08 per share after tax, tied to an incremental accrual related to a settlement agreement executed Jan. 20, 2026 in the matter of Bickerstaff versus SunTrust Bank. The quarter also included about $0.04 per share of charges “primarily related to severance.” Rogers said certain charges totaled $0.12 per share in the quarter and $0.18 per share for the year.

Revenue rose 1.1% from the third quarter, driven by a 1.9% increase in net interest income, partially offset by a modest decline in non-interest income. GAAP non-interest expense increased 5.2% sequentially, which Maguire attributed primarily to the legal accrual and higher personnel expense. Excluding the legal accrual and severance, he said non-interest expense declined about 0.3% from the prior quarter.

Business segment momentum: consumer, digital, and wholesale

Rogers highlighted consumer and small business performance in 2025, citing 5% growth in average consumer and small business loans and 1% growth in average deposits. He said growth was supported by indirect auto and specialty and digital lending platforms including Sheffield, Service Finance, and LightStream. Truist has integrated LightStream into the mobile app and branch account-opening experience, which Rogers said is improving efficiency, broadening distribution, and enhancing the client experience.

On digital engagement, Rogers said Truist added 77,000 digital new-to-bank clients in the fourth quarter, up 10% year over year, and reported full-year digital production growth of 9%. He also cited higher self-service adoption through the AI-powered Truist Assist experience, including the launch of “Ask Truist Assist,” which he said contributed to a 97% increase in digital chat engagement in 2025.

In wholesale banking, Rogers said the company saw a strong second half, including improved loan and deposit growth and a rebound in investment banking and trading. Truist onboarded “twice as many” new corporate and commercial clients compared to the prior year. Average wholesale loans rose 3% in 2025, and fourth-quarter average wholesale loans were up 8% from the year-ago quarter. End-of-period wholesale deposit balances increased 6% late in the quarter, which included a seasonal public funds contribution, though Rogers said growth came from “all of our industry banking teams and geographies.”

Rogers said full-year investment banking and trading income fell 6% from 2024 due to first-half volatility, but fourth-quarter revenues increased 28% from the year-ago period due to higher M&A, trading, and capital markets activity. He added that wholesale payment fees rose 8% in 2025, with treasury management fees up 13% and the payments pipeline “up significantly” year over year.

Balance sheet trends: loans, deposits, and net interest margin

Maguire said average loans held for investment rose $4.3 billion, or 1.3%, sequentially in the fourth quarter to $325 billion. For full-year 2025, average loans held for investment increased 3.6% to $316 billion, reflecting 5.4% growth in average consumer and card loans and 2.4% growth in average commercial loans.

For 2026, management expects 3% to 4% average loan growth, “primarily” driven by commercial loans, with slower growth in residential mortgage and indirect auto compared to 2025. Maguire said specialty lending businesses are expected to grow at a similar pace given what he described as attractive risk-adjusted returns.

Deposits were “relatively stable” sequentially as declines in higher-cost broker deposits were offset by growth in lower-cost client deposits, Maguire said. He noted the improved mix and recent federal funds rate reductions contributed to a 27-basis-point sequential decline in average interest-bearing deposit costs to 2.23% and a 20-basis-point decline in total deposit costs to 1.64%.

Taxable-equivalent net interest income increased 1.9% sequentially, and net interest margin (NIM) rose 6 basis points to 3.07% in the fourth quarter. For full-year 2026, Truist expects net interest income growth of 3% to 4% and said it anticipates full-year average NIM will exceed the 2025 average of 3.03%, with Maguire citing fixed-rate asset repricing, improved earning-asset mix, and lower deposit costs. In Q&A, Maguire said NIM could dip modestly in the first quarter due to seasonality but could expand over the balance of the year, with expectations to “exit 2026 in kind of that three-teens area.”

Asset quality, capital return, and 2026 guidance

Asset quality metrics were described as stable. Non-performing loans held for investment remained at 48 basis points of total loans, while net charge-offs rose 9 basis points sequentially to 57 basis points, which Maguire said reflected higher C&I and seasonally higher consumer losses, partially offset by lower CRE losses. For full-year 2025, net charge-offs declined 5 basis points to 54 basis points.

Truist’s CET1 ratio declined 20 basis points sequentially to 10.8%, while CET1 including AOCI increased 10 basis points to 9.5%. In the quarter, the company repurchased $750 million of common stock and announced a new share repurchase authorization of up to $10 billion with no expiration date. Rogers said Truist returned $5.2 billion of capital to shareholders in 2025 through dividends and repurchases, which he said represented a 37% increase versus 2024.

For 2026, Truist guided to:

• Revenue growth of 4% to 5% versus 2025 revenue of $20.5 billion, driven by 3% to 4% net interest income growth and “mid to high single-digit” growth in non-interest income
• GAAP non-interest expense growth of 1.25% to 2.25% versus 2025 GAAP non-interest expense of $12.1 billion, implying 275 basis points of positive operating leverage
• Net charge-offs of about 55 basis points (relatively stable versus 2025)
• Effective tax rate of about 16.5% (or 18.5% on a taxable-equivalent basis)
• Approximately $4 billion of share repurchases for the year, with $1 billion targeted in the first quarter

Maguire also noted a reporting change: Truist renamed and expanded the “Card and Payment Fees” line to “Card and Treasury Management Fees,” moving treasury management fees out of service charges on deposits (renamed “Other Deposit Revenue”). He added Truist will no longer disclose adjusted expense in earnings materials and will base expense commentary and guidance on GAAP.

Looking ahead, Rogers said Truist plans to continue investing in technology and talent, and reiterated plans to open 100 new “insight-driven” branches in high-growth markets and enhance more than 300 branch locations. In Q&A, he said the branch initiative follows several years of limited net new branch investment, and is intended to support longer-term growth priorities such as Premier banking and deposit generation.

About Truist Financial NYSE: TFC

Truist Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company that provides a broad range of financial services through its primary subsidiary, Truist Bank, and other operating units. The company offers traditional retail banking products and services such as deposit accounts, consumer and residential mortgage lending, and credit and debit card services. Truist also serves commercial clients with middle-market and corporate lending, treasury and payment solutions, and specialty finance products.

Beyond core banking, Truist operates wealth management, asset management, insurance and capital markets businesses.

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