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