Huntington Bancshares. HBAN. It sounds…sturdy, doesn’t it? Like a sensible pair of shoes. Which is what my father always said about banks – they should be dependable, not exciting. He’d be appalled by the volatility of, well, everything these days. Anyway, HBAN closed down 6.02% yesterday, at $17.64. A perfectly respectable decline, if you’re into that sort of thing. I’m not, but I find myself watching these numbers anyway, like a slightly anxious birdwatcher hoping for a glimpse of something interesting before it flies away. Apparently, they missed some revenue and earnings per share estimates. The market doesn’t care about sensible shoes, it wants rockets. And HBAN, it seems, is more of a…comfortable sedan. 86.2 million shares traded. That’s a lot of people deciding, simultaneously, that maybe a comfortable sedan isn’t what they’re after. It’s been around since 1980, though, so it’s clearly doing something right. A 1,734% growth since then is…substantial. My houseplants haven’t even managed 17%.
How the Markets Moved Today
The S&P 500, bless its heart, managed a 0.54% gain, finishing at 6,913. The Nasdaq Composite, ever the showoff, jumped 0.91% to 23,436. Regional banks, however, were having a bit of a moment. Fifth Third Bancorp dipped 3.73% (perhaps they also missed some estimates?), and KeyCorp slipped 0.58%. It’s like watching a school of fish – some dart forward, some lag behind, and you’re left wondering if there’s a shark nearby. Investors are reassessing growth plans and mergers, which is just a polite way of saying they’re looking for the next big thing. Or, you know, avoiding the next big flop.
What This Means for Investors
So, Huntington grew revenue 12% in the last quarter, which is good. But earnings per share dipped, and both figures missed expectations. It’s like baking a cake that looks beautiful but tastes vaguely of disappointment. And then the criticized asset ratio rose from 3.79% to 4.23%. I don’t pretend to understand what that means, but it sounds…unpleasant. Management is guiding for expenses to rise 10% in 2026 because of acquisitions. Acquisitions. It’s always acquisitions. It’s like a financial version of hoarding. “We need more! More banks! More assets!” It’s exhausting just thinking about it.
But here’s the thing. Stand-alone net interest income, loans, deposits, and fee revenue are all expected to rise. A lot. 11.5%, 11.5%, 8.5%, and 14.5%, respectively. Which is…optimistic. They expect synergies from Vertex and Cadence acquisitions by Q2 and Q4. Synergies. It’s a magical word that financial people use to justify…well, everything. Apparently, this is all about expanding into the South. The South. I picture magnolias and mint juleps and a slow, deliberate pace of financial growth. Which, frankly, sounds appealing. Maybe I should invest. Or maybe I should just buy a comfortable pair of shoes.
Read More
- 39th Developer Notes: 2.5th Anniversary Update
- TON PREDICTION. TON cryptocurrency
- Bitcoin’s Bizarre Ballet: Hyper’s $20M Gamble & Why Your Grandma Will Buy BTC (Spoiler: She Won’t)
- The 10 Most Beautiful Women in the World for 2026, According to the Golden Ratio
- Lilly’s Gamble: AI, Dividends, and the Soul of Progress
- Celebs Who Fake Apologies After Getting Caught in Lies
- Nuclear Dividends: Seriously?
- Berkshire After Buffett: A Fortified Position
- Chips & Shadows: A Chronicle of Progress
- A Few Pennies to a Fortune
2026-01-23 01:12