Fifth Third net income rises 33% from a year earlier, with net interest income up 49%, but EPS slips to $0.90

Fifth Third Bancorp reported third-quarter 2026 net income available to common shareholders of $828 million, or $0.90 per diluted share, against $608 million, or $0.91, in the third quarter of 2025. Net income rose 33% year over year to $866 million, while net interest income rose 49% on a fully taxable-equivalent basis, a gain the release attributes primarily to the addition of Comerica; dilution from the Comerica acquisition lifted diluted shares 37% from a year earlier to 917.103 million, leaving per-share profit a penny below the year-earlier figure. Excluding $0.23 a share of merger, litigation and impairment items, adjusted earnings were $1.13 per diluted share.

The results were furnished under Items 2.02 and 7.01 of a Form 8-K filed October 19, 2026. The press release was furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to that Form 8-K, which also furnished an earnings presentation as Exhibit 99.2.

Comerica's balance sheet arrives and net interest income follows

The year-over-year columns are shaped by Comerica, which was not part of the company in the year-ago quarter. The release does not break out Comerica's standalone contribution, so the portion of the 33% year-over-year increase in net income that came from the acquisition is not disclosed. Average portfolio loans and leases rose 45% to $179.24 billion from $123.33 billion, and average deposits rose 45% to $238.34 billion from $164.75 billion, with core deposits up 3% sequentially. The period-end portfolio loan-to-core deposit ratio improved to 76% from 77% at June 30, 2026. Net interest income on a fully taxable-equivalent basis increased 49% to $2.28 billion, which the release credits to the addition of Comerica along with fixed-rate asset repricing and balance sheet management. Total revenue on the same basis was $3.28 billion, up 42% from a year earlier. Sequentially, net interest income rose 3% and the net interest margin was 3.34%, two basis points below the second quarter's 3.36%. The release credits the sequential gain in net interest income to higher market rates, fixed-rate asset repricing, investment portfolio management and loan growth, partly offset by higher deposit costs and the migration of former off-balance-sheet Comerica investment sweep balances onto the balance sheet. Noninterest income fell 5% from the second quarter, down $51 million to $1.01 billion. Higher mortgage banking, commercial banking and wealth revenue more than offset declines in capital markets and consumer banking revenue; the net decline was concentrated in other noninterest income, down 64% sequentially, and in the securities line, which swung to a $5 million net loss from a net gain in the second quarter.

Certain items take $0.23 a share off reported profit

Three after-tax items bridge reported and adjusted results: $171 million of merger-related charges, plus smaller amounts tied to interchange litigation matters and technology-related asset impairments, totaling about $211 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, an amount the release says may not foot due to rounding. Pre-tax, merger-related charges added $215 million to noninterest expense and reduced noninterest income by $10 million, while the interchange matters added $5 million to expense and cut noninterest income by $29 million. Adjusted net income was $1.08 billion, against $976 million in the second quarter, and adjusted pre-provision net revenue was $1.51 billion, 8% higher sequentially. The adjusted efficiency ratio improved to 54.6% from 57.1% in the second quarter, and adjusted return on average tangible common equity was 20.6% including AOCI, against 19.0% in the second quarter, while the same-quarter measure excluding AOCI was 17.4%, against 16.3% sequentially. Reported noninterest expense of $2.05 billion was 62% above a year earlier, and the efficiency ratio on an FTE basis (non-GAAP) was 62.4% against 54.9% a year earlier, with roughly $1.04 billion of merger-related charges booked in expense year-to-date.

Credit stays steady while capital builds without buybacks

Net charge-offs were $139 million, or 0.31% of average portfolio loans on an annualized basis, against $135 million, or 0.30%, in the second quarter and $339 million, or 1.09%, a year earlier, a quarter the release says included a $178 million asset-backed finance charge-off and 0.52% excluding it. The provision for credit losses declined to $122 million from $129 million in the second quarter, and the allowance for credit losses was $3.13 billion, or 1.74% of portfolio loans, against 1.76% at June 30, 2026. Nonperforming assets rose to $1.16 billion, or 0.64%, from $1.08 billion and 0.60% at June 30, 2026; other real estate owned of $81 million included $74 million of branch-related property no longer intended for banking use. CET1 capital was an estimated 10.02%, up from 9.93% at June 30 but below 10.57% a year earlier, as capital generated through earnings was partially offset by risk-weighted asset growth, and no common shares were repurchased in the quarter or year-to-date. Tangible book value per share, including AOCI, fell to $22.01 from $23.22 at June 30, 2026, a quarter in which the accumulated other comprehensive loss widened to $4.92 billion from $3.29 billion, while the excluding-AOCI measure rose to $27.43 from $26.84. The quarterly dividend was $0.42 a share, against $0.40 in the second quarter and a year earlier.

Deposit competition, the call, and what the filing leaves open

The release carries no fourth-quarter or full-year guidance and no analyst consensus, so it cannot establish a beat or a miss; it supplies no numeric outlook, and what management says about the environment is qualitative rather than a forecast. Chief Executive Tim Spence said "We live in a more volatile world, and competition for deposits is heating up." He also said "We are building a Fifth Third that is better and not just bigger." Fifth Third cites FDIC data showing deposit share gains in the Southeast and in Comerica's Michigan, Texas and California markets. A conference call is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time today, with a webcast replay available for 30 days. The release marks its regulatory capital ratios as estimates, and the results are unaudited.