BUZZ-Synchrony Financial falls after Q4 results miss expectations

Shares of consumer lender Synchrony Financial SYF.N fall 5.2% to $66.25 in premarket trading

SYF posts Q4 profit of $1.91/shr, 2 cents short of analysts' expectations - LSEG data

Q4 net interest income came in at $4.59 bln, slightly beneath estimates of $4.62 bln

Net charge-offs (NCO) - debts that are unlikely to be recovered - as a percentage of total average loan receivables was 6.45% in Q4, above Street expectations of 6.36%

JPM expects SYF shares to trade down on slight earnings miss and higher-than-expected NCOs, adding that the focus on the earnings call will be on purchase and credit outlook

Truist analyst Brian Foran says growth in spend and accounts is still negative, leading to some concern that pricing increases are weighing on growth

Customer spending volume decreased 3% in Q4, slightly impacted by SYF's credit actions between mid-2023 through early 2024

SYF stock soared 70.2% in 2024