Huntington's Q1 Earnings on the Deck: What's in Store for the Stock?
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated HBAN is slated to report first-quarter 2026 results on April 23, before the opening bell. The company’s quarterly revenues and earnings are expected to have increased year over year.
In the last reported quarter, the bank’s results were affected by an increase in non-interest expenses and higher provisions. However, an increase in net interest income (NII) and non-interest income, along with higher loan and deposit balances, supported the results to some extent.
HBAN has an impressive earnings surprise history. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters, matched once and missed once, the average beat being 2.4%.
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Price and EPS Surprise
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated price-eps-surprise | Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Quote
HBAN’s Recent Developments
In February 2026, Huntington completed its previously announced merger with Cadence Bank, accelerating its growth initiatives across Texas and the southern United States while adding scale in several key markets. The customers of Cadence are expected to be converted to HBAN’s systems in mid-2026.
The transaction significantly strengthens the company’s footprint, making it the eighth-largest bank in Texas and the leading bank in Mississippi by deposit market share. Following the merger, the combined entity had approximately $279 billion in assets, $221 billion in deposits and $187 billion in loans as of Dec. 31, 2025. Further, Cadence’s 390 branches expand HBAN’s network to nearly 1,400 locations across 21 states, spanning the Midwest, Texas and the South.
Now, let us discuss the factors that are likely to have influenced Huntington’s first-quarter performance.
Key Factors & Estimates for HBAN’s Q1 Performance
Loans & NII: The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at 3.50–3.75% during the first quarter of 2026. While asset yields likely remained relatively stable, stabilizing funding and deposit costs are expected to have supported HBAN’s NII.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NII is pegged at $1.93 billion, indicating a 21.3% increase from the prior-quarter reported level.
Per the Fed’s latest data, demand for commercial and industrial and consumer loans remained solid during the first quarter of 2026. This is expected to have supported Huntington’s average interest-earning asset growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for average total earnings assets of $241.4 billion for the to-be-reported quarter indicates a 19.2% rise from the prior quarter’s reported level.
Non-Interest Income: Mortgage rates remained elevated in the first quarter of 2026, hovering around 6–6.5%, leading to affordability challenges. While purchase volumes continued to face pressure due to limited housing inventory, refinancing activity witnessed a modest improvement from the lows seen in 2025. As such, this is likely to have provided some support to HBAN’s mortgage banking income.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for mortgage banking income is pegged at $39.5 million, suggesting a 1.4% rise from the prior quarter’s reported figure.
Global mergers and acquisitions (M&As) volumes declined year over year in the first quarter of 2026, but total deal value increased, driven by a higher number of large transactions. Despite the Middle East conflict and related economic uncertainty toward the end of the quarter, overall deal-making activity remained resilient.
Unlike last year, when tariff concerns following the ‘Liberation Day’ announcement led to a prolonged slowdown, companies continued to execute deals, adapting to ongoing market volatility. Lower capital costs, along with a strategic focus on scale and AI integration, supported activity. As such, HBAN’s capital markets and advisory fees are likely to have improved in the to-be-reported quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for capital markets and advisory fees is pegged at $107.6 million, indicating a 6.5% rise on a sequential basis.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for wealth and asset management revenues is pegged at $108.6 million, suggesting a 6.4% increase from the prior quarter's reported figure.
The consensus estimate for customer deposit and loan fees for the first quarter is pegged at $112.3 million, indicating 4.9% sequential growth.
The consensus mark for insurance income of $22.1 million implies a marginal rise from the prior quarter's reported figure.
The consensus estimate for total non-interest income is pegged at $650.1 million, indicating a 11.7% rise from the prior quarter’s reported level.
Expenses: Huntington’s higher expenses from outside data processing and other services, along with deposit and marketing expenses, are anticipated to have raised its costs in the first quarter. Additionally, the bank’s ongoing efforts to expand its commercial banking capabilities in high-growth markets by adding more branches are expected to have increased expenses.
While efficiency initiatives are expected to have reduced expenses to some extent, long-term investments in key growth initiatives, along with acquisition-related expenses, are likely to have kept the company’s expense base higher.
Asset Quality: HBAN is less likely to have set aside a significantly higher amount for potential delinquent loans in the first quarter of 2026, amid expectations of an additional rate cut this year, as signaled by the Federal Reserve.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total non-performing assets is pegged at $945 million, unchanged from the prior quarter’s reported level.
What Does Our Model Unveil for HBAN?
Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for Huntington this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That is not the case here, as you can see below.
You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Earnings ESP: Huntington Bancshares has an Earnings ESP of -1.13%.
Zacks Rank: HBAN currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Huntington Bancshares’ first-quarter earnings of 36 cents per share has been unchanged over the past seven days. The figure suggests a 5.9% rise from the year-ago reported number.
The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $2.6 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 34.3%.
Stocks to Consider
Here are a couple of other bank stocks that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these also have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this time around.
The Earnings ESP for Capital One Financial COF is +1.76%, and it carries a Zacks Rank #3 at present. The company is slated to report first-quarter 2026 results on April 21. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for COF’s quarterly earnings has been revised downward to $4.61 per share.
East West Bancorp EWBC is scheduled to report first-quarter 2026 results on April 21, 2026. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.44% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.
Quarterly earnings estimates for EWBC have been unchanged at $2.46 per share over the past week.
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