Zions Bancorporation Q3 2026 EPS 超预期 7%、存款强劲增长并给出 2027 净利息收入 +8-12% 指引，盘后小涨约 1%

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Introduction & Market Context
Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) presented its third-quarter 2026 financial results on October 19, 2026, showcasing strong deposit growth and improved year-over-year earnings despite margin pressure from higher funding costs. The Salt Lake City-based regional bank beat Wall Street’s earnings expectations with diluted EPS of $1.78, exceeding the $1.66 consensus estimate by 7.23%, though revenue of $881 million came in slightly below the $889.98 million forecast.
The presentation highlighted the bank’s strategic evolution beyond traditional spread income, with significant investments in capital markets capabilities, wealth management expansion, and a newly acquired agency multifamily lending platform. Shares rose 0.98% in after-hours trading to $63.76 following the release, reflecting investor confidence in the bank’s earnings trajectory and credit quality.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
As shown in the following table of key financial metrics, Zions delivered net earnings to common shareholders of $262 million in the third quarter, representing a 19% increase from $221 million in the year-ago period.
The bank’s performance reflected several positive trends, including average loan growth of 3.7% annualized on a linked-quarter basis and 2.7% year-over-year, reaching $62.4 billion. More notably, average customer deposits surged 8.8% annualized from the prior quarter and 5.2% year-over-year to $74.0 billion, demonstrating strong deposit gathering capabilities in a competitive environment.
Net interest margin compressed to 3.23%, down 4 basis points from the prior quarter and 5 basis points year-over-year, primarily due to increased deposit costs and deployment of excess funds into money market investments. Adjusted pre-provision net revenue increased 2% sequentially to $338 million but declined 4% from the elevated prior-year amount.
The following chart illustrates the diluted earnings per share trend and the impact of credit loss provisions over recent quarters:
Credit quality remained exceptional, with net charge-offs representing just 0.02% of average loans on an annualized basis, down from 0.06% in the prior quarter and 0.37% in the year-ago period. This stellar credit performance contributed significantly to the year-over-year earnings improvement.
Strategic Expansion in Capital Markets
The presentation emphasized Zions’ deliberate strategy to build a broader revenue platform through capital markets capabilities. As illustrated in the following chart, capital markets fee income has grown substantially over the past six years:
Capital markets fee income reached $136 million on an annualized basis in 2026, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately 12% since 2020 and 1.9 times the 2020 level. This growth reflects continued investment in product capabilities and senior talent to expand the bank’s addressable market and deepen client relationships.
The bank has systematically expanded its capital markets offering from a core platform of foreign exchange, syndications, interest rate derivatives, bond underwriting, and public finance in 2020-2021 to include CMBS conduit loans, investment banking, and equity underwriting in 2022-2024. Most recently, the platform added private placement, commodities hedging, advanced foreign exchange, advanced interest rate derivatives, and agency multifamily capabilities in 2025-2026.
In July 2026, Zions completed the acquisition of an agency multifamily business, adding experienced leadership and direct access to Fannie Mae DUS® and Freddie Mac Optigo® Conventional programs. The following slide details this strategic acquisition:
Management expects the Basis multifamily agency platform to generate $17 million to $20 million of revenue in 2027 and $12 million to $13 million of expenses, with longer-term annual revenue potential of $30 million to $40 million. This acquisition complements Zions’ relationship-based commercial real estate franchise by combining balance-sheet lending, agency execution, and CMBS conduit capabilities into a more complete client solution.
Wealth Management Growth Opportunity
The presentation highlighted wealth management as another significant growth opportunity, with the bank’s deep client relationships and sizable customer base creating compelling expansion potential. As shown in this strategic overview:
Zions generated $57 million in wealth fee revenue in 2025, with approximately $12 billion in assets under management. The bank emphasized that wealth AUM is small relative to the overall banking franchise size, indicating significant room to deepen existing relationships. The recently launched "Wealth Select" offering expands the addressable market by serving clients with as little as $50,000 in investable assets through a scalable advisory model.
The foundation for accelerated growth includes experienced affiliate and wealth leadership, a large relationship-rich customer base, strong foundation and offering capabilities, and focused growth initiatives around banker-advisor collaboration, data and analytics, and operational efficiency.
The bank’s strategic focus is captured in its "Strategic Six Products" framework, illustrated in the following diagram:
These six products—Gold Account (consumer), SBA 7a Lending (small business), Business Beyond (small business), Wealth Select (wealth), TM Select (small business), and Mortgage (consumer)—represent priorities for expanding existing relationships and attracting new clients across the franchise.
Net Interest Income and Margin Dynamics
Net interest income trends and margin performance reflected the challenging funding environment, as shown in the following chart:
Tax-equivalent net interest income increased $7 million, or 1%, to $684 million on a linked-quarter basis, driven by $18 million in higher loan interest income and $9 million in increased money market and securities income. However, this was partially offset by $32 million in higher deposit interest expense, though borrowing costs decreased $12 million.
Year-over-year, net interest income rose $12 million, or 2%, as interest expense on deposits remained flat and borrowing costs fell $30 million, or 38%. The total cost of deposits increased 11 basis points to 1.59% in the third quarter from 1.48% in the prior quarter, with a spot rate of 1.60% at quarter-end.
The presentation provided detailed decomposition of net interest margin changes, showing that on a linked-quarter basis, deposit pricing pressure contributed negative 18 basis points to the margin, partially offset by positive contributions from borrowings (+10 bps) and free funds (+3 bps).
Revenue and Expense Trends
Customer-related noninterest income remained stable, as illustrated in the following revenue analysis:
Adjusted customer-related noninterest income totaled $182 million in the third quarter, essentially flat with the prior quarter but up 5% year-over-year. Total revenue on a GAAP basis was $881 million, while adjusted revenue reached $887 million after excluding certain items.
Noninterest expense management remained disciplined, as shown in this expense breakdown:
Adjusted noninterest expense increased modestly by $3 million, or 1%, to $549 million on a linked-quarter basis, driven by increases in salaries and benefits ($1 million), technology expense ($4 million), and deposit insurance and regulatory expense ($5 million). Year-over-year, adjusted noninterest expense rose $29 million, or 5.6%, primarily from higher salary expense, technology costs, and professional services. The efficiency ratio improved to 61.9% from 62.2% in the prior quarter.
Balance Sheet Strength and Funding Profile
The bank’s balance sheet trends demonstrated strong deposit gathering and prudent funding management. As shown in the following chart of average loans and deposits:
Average total loans reached $62.4 billion with a yield of 5.63%, while average total deposits grew to $78.0 billion with a total cost of 1.59%. The deposit base included $26.2 billion in noninterest-bearing deposits and $51.8 billion in interest-bearing deposits.
Period-end deposit and borrowing trends, illustrated in the next chart, showed customer deposits increasing $1.8 billion sequentially and $3.4 billion year-over-year:
Brokered deposits decreased $448 million, or 11%, from the prior quarter, while short-term borrowings fell $376 million, or 31%, on a linked-quarter basis. The bank issued two rounds of senior debt in 2026, increasing long-term debt by approximately $500 million sequentially and $1 billion year-over-year. Total funding cost increased 6 basis points to 1.75% from 1.69% in the prior quarter.
Credit Quality Excellence
Credit quality remained a standout feature of Zions’ performance, with multiple metrics showing improvement or stability at very low levels. The following chart illustrates key credit quality ratios:
Net charge-offs relative to average loans totaled just 0.02% annualized in the third quarter and 0.04% over the last 12 months. Criticized loans as a percentage of total loans decreased to 4.20% from 4.61% in the prior quarter, with the criticized balance declining $190 million. Classified loans fell to 3.40% from 3.73%, representing a $204 million decrease.
Nonperforming assets as a percentage of loans and OREO remained low at 0.50%, up slightly from 0.48% in the prior quarter. The allowance for credit losses stood at 1.11% of total loans and leases, down two basis points from the previous quarter.
Capital strength metrics demonstrated robust loss-absorbing capacity, as shown in this capital analysis:
Common Equity Tier 1 capital reached 11.8% of risk-weighted assets, while the allowance for credit losses represented an additional 1.0% of risk-weighted assets, bringing total loss-absorbing capital to 12.8%. Net charge-offs as a percentage of risk-weighted assets remained minimal at 0.02% annualized.
The bank’s commercial real estate portfolio, which represents 11% of total CRE exposure for office properties and 2.5% of total loans, demonstrated strong collateral coverage with weighted average loan-to-value ratios below 60% for most property types. Management emphasized that the CRE portfolio benefits from low LTVs, guarantor support, low delinquencies, and geographic diversification.
Forward-Looking Statements and Outlook
Management provided constructive guidance for the comparable quarter next year, as detailed in the following outlook table:
For the third quarter of 2027 compared to the third quarter of 2026, Zions expects:
- Loan balance growth of 2% to 4%, led by commercial and industrial lending and owner-occupied real estate
- Net interest income growth of 8% to 12%, driven by asset sensitivity, earning asset remix, and loan and deposit growth
- Adjusted customer-related noninterest income growth of 6% to 9%, with capital markets contributing in an outsized way, followed by wealth management and commercial account fees
- Adjusted noninterest expense growth of 4% to 6%, with technology costs, increased marketing, and continued investments in revenue-generating businesses putting mild pressure on expenses while maintaining positive operating leverage
Management indicated it is modeling approximately three rate increases by the end of 2027, with deposit costs expected to rise to around 2.00%, implying a deposit beta in the upper 40s to low 50s. Earning asset yields are expected to improve by 5 to 7 basis points, driven by fixed-rate loan repricing and investment securities remix. The bank sees scenarios that could allow it to operate in the mid-3% range for net interest margin in 2027.
The following comprehensive financial summary provides additional detail on quarterly performance trends:
Return on average tangible common equity of 16.2% in the third quarter, while down from the elevated 28.6% in the second quarter (which included significant gains on Visa share sales and SBIC investments), remained healthy and above the year-ago period’s 16.0%. The following profitability chart illustrates these trends:
Chairman and Chief Executive Harris Simmons stated the quarter reflected "meaningful year-over-year earnings improvement and continued progress on our strategic priorities." Chief Financial Officer Ryan Richards noted that management sees "scenarios that would allow us to operate in the mid-3s moving forward with this type of rate environment," underscoring confidence in the earnings outlook.
The presentation emphasized Zions’ distinctive local operating model, which focuses on serving small- to medium-sized businesses and creates a granular deposit franchise with long-term funding advantages. The bank operates across 11 western states that collectively generate approximately 35% of national GDP and experience population and job growth that outpace the national average. Coalition Greenwich recognized Zions with 15 Best Bank Awards for Middle Market & Small Business, ranking the bank seventh among all U.S. banks in this category.
With shares trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.05 and a PEG ratio of 0.19, the market appears to view Zions as attractively valued relative to its earnings growth potential. The stock closed the regular session at $63.14, near the upper end of its 52-week range of $48.50 to $73.34, suggesting investors have already rewarded much of the bank’s recent improvement while remaining constructive on its strategic positioning and execution capabilities.
Full presentation:
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