Huntington Q3 2026 Earnings: Revenue Rises as EPS Declines

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN) reported Q3 2026 revenue of $2.791 billion, up about 31% from $2.134 billion a year earlier, while diluted EPS fell to $0.33 from $0.41. Net income applicable to common shares increased 13% to $680 million and net interest margin expanded, but fee income declined sequentially and credit metrics weakened.

Core Earnings Data

Year-over-year growth was led by net interest income, which rose about 37%, while noninterest income increased 15%. Noninterest expense grew faster than revenue, and key return metrics declined despite higher net income.

Sequentially, total revenue fell about 2% as an 8% decline in noninterest income more than offset the increase in net interest income. Lower capital markets fees and unfavorable equity valuation adjustments drove the fee-income decline.

Adjusted EPS, which excludes notable items, was $0.38, down $0.01 from Q2 2026. Adjusted ROTCE was 16.6%, compared with 17.5% in the prior quarter and 17.4% a year earlier.

Loan and Deposit Trends

Average loans and leases were $188.449 billion, down 0.4% from Q2. Declines in commercial real estate and total consumer loans outweighed growth in commercial and industrial loans.

Average deposits increased 0.2% sequentially to $223.816 billion. Money market and interest-bearing demand balances rose, while time deposits declined. Average earning assets fell about 1% from Q2 to $255.274 billion.

Despite the smaller average earning-asset base, net interest income increased 1% sequentially and net interest margin rose four basis points to 3.25%. Huntington attributed the margin expansion to higher yields on investment securities and modestly lower overall funding costs.

A Larger Balance Sheet Did Not Translate into Higher EPS

Compared with Q3 2025, average earning assets increased about 32%, average loans rose about 39%, and average deposits grew about 36%. This larger balance sheet supported revenue and net income growth, but diluted EPS still declined approximately 20%.

Using the rounded net income and EPS figures, the implied diluted share base was roughly 2.1 billion shares in Q3 2026, compared with approximately 1.5 billion a year earlier. That calculation is approximate because Huntington did not provide the official diluted weighted-average share count in the supplied release, but it helps explain why higher common net income did not produce higher per-share earnings.

Profitability, Credit, and Capital

The efficiency ratio was 61.2%, improving slightly from 61.5% in Q2 but rising from 57.4% a year earlier. Return on tangible common equity also declined on both a sequential and year-over-year basis. The effective tax rate increased to 19.3% from 18.4% in Q2, mainly because of higher nondeductible expenses.

Credit indicators moved in an unfavorable direction. The net charge-off ratio increased to 0.31% from 0.25% in Q2 and 0.22% a year earlier, while the nonperforming asset ratio rose to 0.90% from 0.85% and 0.60%, respectively. The allowance for credit losses ratio declined to 1.75% from 1.78% sequentially and 1.86% year over year.

Huntington reported a CET1 capital ratio of 10.1%, compared with 10.0% in Q2 and 10.6% a year earlier. The adjusted CET1 ratio was 8.9%, and the tangible common equity ratio was 6.9%. Tangible book value per common share declined to $9.47 from $9.65 in Q2 and $9.54 in Q3 2025.

The company repurchased $100 million of common shares during the quarter. Year-to-date repurchases totaled $409 million, representing approximately 25 million shares.

Management Perspective

Chairman and CEO Steve Steinour said Huntington was receiving increasing benefits from its recent partnerships with Veritex and Cadence. Management also said the company was achieving its targeted cost and revenue synergies and remained on track toward its financial targets.

Risks Investors Should Watch

• Credit deterioration: Rising net charge-offs and nonperforming assets could increase credit costs and weigh on future profitability if the trend continues.
• Fee-income volatility: Lower capital markets fees and unfavorable equity valuation adjustments reduced noninterest income by 8% from Q2, showing that fee revenue can create meaningful quarterly fluctuations.
• Loan growth and mix: Sequential contraction in commercial real estate and consumer lending could limit balance-sheet growth if commercial and industrial loan gains are insufficient to offset those declines.
• Per-share earnings conversion: The gap between higher common net income and lower diluted EPS makes the diluted share base an important factor to monitor alongside headline earnings growth.

Summary

Huntington’s Q3 2026 results reflected a substantially larger balance sheet, higher net interest income, and an improving net interest margin. Those gains were partly offset by weaker sequential fee income, faster year-over-year expense growth, deteriorating credit ratios, and lower per-share earnings. The next key indicators are loan growth, credit quality, fee-revenue stability, and whether reported earnings growth translates more effectively into EPS and tangible book value.