Huntington Bancshares, Inc. HBAN has set an ambitious earnings growth target, projecting adjusted earnings per share (EPS) to increase from $1.45 in 2025 to $1.90-$1.93 by 2027. That represents more than 30% cumulative growth in just two years. The key question is whether Huntington can translate its recent operating momentum and strategic initiatives into sustainable earnings growth.
A major pillar supporting management’s target is the bank’s strong revenue trajectory. Revenues increased 11% in 2025 and accelerated to 34% year-over-year growth in the first quarter of 2026. At the same time, Huntington delivered robust balance-sheet expansion, with loan growth of 17.3% and deposit growth of 14.2% year over year in 2025, both accelerating further in early 2026. Strong growth on both sides of the balance sheet is particularly important because it provides the scale needed to drive net interest income, while also expanding opportunities for cross-selling higher-value products and services.
Another encouraging factor is the increasing contribution from fee-based businesses. Non-interest income rose 6.2% in 2025 before rising 38% year over year in the first quarter of 2026. Growth in the Capital Markets, Wealth Management and Payments businesses suggests that Huntington is gradually diversifying away from a model heavily dependent on net interest income. This diversification should make earnings more resilient if margin expansion slows or funding costs remain elevated.
Acquisition synergies represent another meaningful lever. Following the integration of Veritex and the pending benefits from Cadence, management expects $435 million of annualized cost synergies by 2027 and $500 million of cumulative revenue synergies by 2028. While revenue synergies are often harder to realize than cost savings, Huntington’s ability to expand market density, deepen commercial banking relationships, and cross-sell treasury management, payments and wealth products could provide a significant boost to earnings if execution remains strong.
Overall, Huntington’s 2027 earnings target appears challenging but achievable. The bank benefits from multiple earnings drivers, including organic growth, fee-income expansion and merger synergies that collectively support management’s outlook. While execution risks remain, the target looks grounded in identifiable operational levers rather than overly optimistic assumptions.
How HBAN Peers Are Performing
Huntington’s peers, including KeyCorp KEY and Regions Financial RF, are also showing improving operating trends.
KeyCorp’s earnings trajectory is expected to grow, backed by management’s optimistic outlook for revenues and loan growth, indicating that momentum is likely to extend beyond the near-term cycle. For the next 3-5 years, KeyCorp’s earnings are projected to rise 21.9%.
Then again, Regions Financial’s focus on expanding and diversifying its business operations through investments in varied product offerings and inorganic expansion efforts will support growth. Regions Financial’s earnings are projected to rise 11.9% over the next 3-5 years.
HBAN’s Price Performance & Zacks Rank
Shares of the company have declined 7.1% in the past six months compared with the industry’s fall of 4.5%.
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Huntington’s currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).