US Bancorp (USB) Q3 2026 Earnings Report

The call was strongly positive overall. Management reported record revenue, double-digit EPS growth, broad-based fee growth, expanding net interest margin, healthy credit metrics, improved operating-leverage guidance, and constructive loan and deposit trends. The principal challenges were the reserve build, higher expenses tied partly to investments and BTIG, the decline in AOCI-adjusted CET1, a temporary pause in share repurchases, muted mortgage and commercial real estate activity, and regulatory and interest-rate uncertainty. Highlights significantly outweighed the lowlights.

For the fourth quarter, U.S. Bancorp expects net interest income growth of 6% to 7% on a fully taxable equivalent basis, total fee revenue growth in the range of 13% to 14%, with roughly half of the growth coming from BTIG, and noninterest expense growth of approximately 8%, or closer to 4% excluding BTIG; net interest margin is expected to increase by a similar amount, with about $10 billion or so per quarter of fixed rate assets repricing at about a 125-basis point improvement or so, and deposit betas assumed at about a 50% or so level to start out with. For full year 2026, the company expects total net revenue growth of 8% to 9%, or 6% to 7% excluding BTIG, and approximately 300 basis points positive operating leverage, or approximately 400 basis points excluding the impact from BTIG, compared with prior guidance of 200 and 300 basis points respectively; it expects the capital markets business to grow from 8% to 10% or more of total company revenue over the next 3 to 5 years, corporate payments to deliver continued growth, treasury management growth in that mid single digit area, BTIG fee revenue of about $200 million in the next quarter, other revenue in the $120 million to $150 million range, and merchant growth in that 0% area for the next couple of quarters. The company expects capital ratios to build from here, positioning it to resume share repurchases over the next quarter or 2, with a 70% to 75% payout, expects a path to a 3% NIM at some point in 2027, plans branch investment of $300 million going forward, and expects residential mortgage to be in the mid twenties at some point over time.