Citizens Financial Group, Inc. CFG is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 results on July 16, 2026, before the opening bell. The bank’s second-quarter 2026 earnings and revenues are expected to have increased from the year-ago quarter’s reported levels.
In the last reported quarter, CFG benefited from a rise in net interest income (NII) and non-interest income. Increased loan and deposit balances were also encouraging. However, a rise in expenses was a major headwind.
The company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the surprise being 3.01%, on average.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Citizens Financial Group, Inc. Quote
Factors to Influence CFG's Q2 Earnings
NII: In the second quarter of 2026, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and signaled a hike later this year. Thus, stabilizing funding and deposit costs are expected to have supported modest growth in CFG’s NII in the quarter to be reported.
Management expects NII to rise 3-4% from the first-quarter 2026 reported level of $1.56 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the metric is pegged at $1.62 billion, indicating a 3.5% rise from the prior quarter’s reported figure.
Loans: According to the Federal Reserve’s latest data, the overall lending environment remained solid in the second quarter. This is likely to have supported the company’s average interest-earning asset growth in the to-be-reported quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for average interest-earning assets is pegged at $203.4 billion, indicating a marginal rise from the prior quarter’s reported figure.
Non-Interest Income: The second quarter was challenging for the mortgage banking business. It was characterized by elevated mortgage rates, hovering around mid-6.5%, and low affordability. While purchase volume faced pressure from inventory constraints, refinance activity has seen a slight boost. As a result, Citizens Financial’s mortgage banking fees are likely to have witnessed modest growth in the quarter to be reported.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for mortgage banking fees is pegged at $45.6 million, indicating an 8.6% rise from the prior quarter’s reported figure.
Although client activity and market volatility eased compared with the exceptionally strong first quarter, both remained elevated during the second quarter. Trading conditions were shaped by evolving expectations around artificial intelligence, ongoing geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation concerns and a more hawkish Federal Reserve. Further, volatility was high across equities, commodities, fixed income and foreign exchange markets.
Hence, Citizens Financial's capital markets fees are likely to have recorded improvements in the quarter to be reported. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the metric is pegged at $148 million, indicating a 10.4% increase from the previous quarter’s reported figure.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the service charge and fee revenues is pegged at $114 million, indicating a rise of 1.8% from the prior quarter’s reported level.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for card fees is pegged at $90 million, indicating a 8.4% increase from the prior quarter’s reported figure.
Management expects non-interest income to grow 3-5% from the $606 million reported in the first quarter of 2026. Further, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the metric is pegged at $634 million, indicating a 4.6% sequential rise.
Expenses: Despite ongoing efforts to control expenses and generate positive operating leverage, the franchise expansion and investments in new technological advancements are likely to have increased CFG’s expenses in the second quarter.
Management projects adjusted non-interest expenses to be flat to rise in the second quarter of 2026 from the first-quarter 2026 reported level of $1.38 billion.
Asset Quality: CFG is likely to have set aside a decently higher amount for potential delinquent loans in the second quarter of 2026, given elevated inflation and expectations of a rate hike later this year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for non-accrual loans is pegged at $1.55 billion, indicating a sequential rise of 3.7%
What Our Model Unveils for CFG
Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for Citizen Financial this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That is exactly the case here.
Earnings ESP: Citizen Financial has an Earnings ESP of +0.10%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: CFG currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings of $1.25 per share has been unchanged in the past seven days. The figure indicates an increase of 35.9% from the year-ago actual.
The consensus estimate for second-quarter 2026 revenues is pegged at $2.24 billion, indicating a rise of 9.9% from the year-ago reported figure.
Other Stocks That Warrant a Look
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 M&T Bank MTB is +0.13% and it carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The company is slated to report second-quarter 2026 results on July 15, 2026. Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MTB's quarterly earnings has been unchanged at $4.66 per share.
U.S. Bancorp USB is also scheduled to announce second-quarter 2026 results on July 16, 2026. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.34% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present.
Quarterly earnings estimates for USB have been revised upward to $1.28 per share over the past week.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).