Fifth Third profit reaches $828 million as interest income rises 49%

Key Facts

Fifth Third Bancorp reported net income available to common shareholders of $828 million in the third quarter of 2026, with interest income rising following the addition of Comerica. The bank issued its earnings release on October 19, 2026, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Profit in the corresponding period a year earlier was $608 million, according to Investing.com, before the merger closed. Reported diluted earnings per share were $0.90, while adjusted earnings were $1.13, according to the bank's investor presentation. Adjusted earnings exceeded analyst estimates of $0.83 cited by Investing.com, putting the comparison with expectations on an adjusted earnings basis.

Net interest income rose 49% year on year in the third quarter, an increase the bank attributed primarily to the expansion of the group through the addition of Comerica. The bank said in its earnings release that the increase was "primarily reflecting the addition of Comerica," linking growth in this line item to the acquisition, which changed the scale of its business compared with a year earlier. Net interest margin was 3.34% on a fully taxable-equivalent basis, according to the earnings presentation provided to investors for the same period. Alongside interest income, the bank generated noninterest income of $1,008 million, according to the results table in its official filing. On the funding side, core deposits grew 3% from the previous quarter, according to the investor presentation, during the quarter for which the bank reported results.

Fifth Third closed its merger with Comerica on February 1, 2026, according to the transaction filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The transaction was valued at about $12.7 billion at closing and was completed entirely through a share exchange, bringing Comerica's operations into the group ahead of the third-quarter results. In its earnings presentation for the period, the bank put commercial loans at 70% of the total loan portfolio following the merger. This category includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate and commercial leasing, which make up the commercial share of the portfolio. Consumer loans accounted for the remaining 30%, according to the breakdown the bank provided in the same investor presentation.

On costs, noninterest expenses totaled $2,049 million in the third quarter of 2026, according to Fifth Third's earnings release. Among adjusted performance measures, the bank reported an efficiency ratio of 54.6% for the period, according to the investor presentation filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Adjusted return on tangible common equity was 20.6%, the profitability measure the bank included in its quarterly earnings presentation. The results came during the year in which the bank completed the Comerica transaction, while targeting expense savings from integrating the businesses. The investor presentation identified the fourth quarter as the point for reaching the full targeted annual savings run rate, as part of the bank's plan to reduce costs across the combined group.

On credit, the bank recorded a provision for credit losses of $122 million during the third quarter, according to the earnings release filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The net charge-off rate was an annualized 31 basis points of average portfolio loans and leases, according to the investor presentation for the same period. On capital, the common equity Tier 1 capital ratio was about 10.02% at the end of the third quarter. The bank said in its earnings release that regulatory capital figures for the current period were estimates. In the early reaction to the announcement, Investing.com reported that the stock fell 0.79% in premarket trading on the day the results were released, a move that preceded the regular session.

For the fourth quarter of 2026, Fifth Third expects net interest income to grow between 2.5% and 3.5% from the third quarter, according to guidance in the investor presentation. That guidance includes the impact of amortization of acquisition accounting adjustments in the bank's estimates for interest income in the coming period. The bank also expects noninterest expenses to decline between 2% and 3% quarter on quarter in the fourth quarter. The expense guidance excludes acquisition charges and the impact of marking nonqualified deferred compensation to market, according to the same presentation. The bank aims to reach an annual expense savings run rate of $850 million from the merger during the fourth quarter, representing an annualized target run rate rather than savings to be recorded in full within that quarter.