Northern Trust Posts Profit of $642.9 Million, Beats Third-Quarter Estimates

Key Facts

Northern Trust reported net income of $642.9 million in the third quarter of 2026, according to results published on its official investor relations page, with earnings and revenue exceeding analysts' estimates. Reported diluted earnings per common share were $3.40, the earnings figure the company announced for the period. Analysts had estimated earnings per share of $2.87, according to Investing's coverage of the third-quarter results. Revenue totaled about $2.3 billion during the quarter, according to the same coverage. That compared with a consensus forecast of $2.26 billion, with revenue also exceeding the level analysts had expected for the period.

The year-on-year comparison showed net income rising from $457.6 million in the third quarter of 2025, according to the company's earnings disclosure filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. On a quarterly basis, net income declined from $792.2 million in the second quarter of 2026. Excluding exceptional items, pretax profit rose 21% from the year-earlier quarter, according to figures published on the investor relations page. On the same basis, earnings per share rose 40% in the third quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. The company said in its results highlights that "earnings per share increased 40%," referring to earnings growth excluding exceptional items.

Revenue grew 11% year on year in the third quarter of 2026, excluding exceptional items, according to Northern Trust's management. On the cost side, expenses rose 5% from the same period a year earlier, also excluding exceptional items, according to the official earnings presentation filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Spending thus grew more slowly than revenue during the period on a basis that excludes those items. The company attributed positive operating leverage to expense discipline alongside year-on-year revenue growth. That operating leverage exceeded 600 basis points during the quarter, according to the officially published results highlights, excluding exceptional items from the comparison.

In its client businesses, assets under custody and administration totaled $19,896.6 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2026, according to preliminary data in the company's earnings disclosure. Assets under management totaled $1,963.0 billion at the end of the same period, according to the disclosure filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Northern Trust attributed the year-on-year increase in client assets primarily to stronger markets and net client inflows. The company described these two factors in its earnings statement as "favorable markets and net client inflows." In its official presentation accompanying the results, the company also confirmed organic growth in trust fees across its three businesses during the quarter.

Trust, investment and other asset servicing fees totaled about $1.37 billion in the third quarter, according to Investing's coverage of Northern Trust's results. These fees rose 8% from the same period a year earlier, alongside the year-on-year increase in client assets reported by the company. On the interest income side, the company recorded about $679.1 million during the quarter, according to its earnings disclosure filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This net interest income was calculated on a fully taxable-equivalent basis, a non-GAAP measure. In premarket trading following the earnings announcement, the company's shares rose 0.31%, according to Investing's coverage published on the day of the announcement.

On capital returns, Northern Trust returned more than $1.5 billion to common shareholders from the start of 2026 through the third quarter, according to its official investor relations page. These funds were returned to shareholders during the period covered by the company's results through the end of the quarter. The next event on its earnings calendar is the fourth-quarter 2026 earnings call, which the company has officially scheduled. The call is set for January 21, 2027, according to the date published on the investor relations page. It begins at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Central Time.