Rise in NII & Fee Income to Drive Huntington Bancshares' Q3 Earnings

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated HBAN is slated to report third-quarter 2025 results on Oct. 17, before the opening bell. The company’s quarterly revenues and earnings are expected to have increased year over year.

In the last reported quarter, the bank’s results reflected improvements in net interest income (NII), and average loan and deposit balances. However, an increase in non-interest expenses and a decline in fee income were headwinds.

HBAN has an impressive earnings surprise history. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and matched once, the average beat being 7.34%.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Price and EPS Surprise

 

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated price-eps-surprise | Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Quote

Now, let us discuss the factors that are likely to have influenced Huntington Bancshares’ third-quarter performance.

Key Factors & Estimates for HBAN’s Q3 Performance

Loans & NII: The Federal Reserve reduced interest rates by a 25-basis point (bps) near the end of the third quarter of 2025. This is unlikely to have impacted HBAN’s NII as the yields remained high for most of the quarter, while funding costs are likely to have stabilized.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NII is pegged at $1.47 billion, suggesting an 8.7% rise from the year-ago quarter reported level.

Per the Fed’s latest data, the demand for commercial and industrial loans and consumer loans was strong in the third quarter. This is expected to have supported Huntington Bancshares’ average interest-earning asset growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for average total earnings assets of $191.9 billion for the quarter under review indicates a 5.6% rise from the prior year’s reported level.

Non-Interest Income: Despite interest rate cuts by the central bank in September 2025, mortgage rates did not come down significantly. The third quarter saw rates fluctuate, but they remained range-bound. As such, refinancing activities and origination volumes did not witness significant growth. This is expected to have negatively impacted HBAN’s mortgage revenue growth in the quarter to be reported.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for mortgage banking income is pegged at $30.2 million, suggesting a 20.5% fall from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

Global mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the third quarter of 2025 rebounded impressively from the lows witnessed in April and May following President Trump’s announcement of ‘Liberation Day’ tariff plans. As corporates adapted to the rapidly evolving geopolitical and macroeconomic scenarios, larger M&A deals resumed. Consequently, the company’s capital markets and advisory fees are expected to have risen in the third quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for capital markets and advisory fees is pegged at $93.7 million, indicating a 20.1% rise on a year-over-year basis.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for wealth and asset management revenues is pegged at $103.5 million, suggesting a 11.3% rally from the year-ago reported figure.

The consensus estimate for customer deposit and loan fees for the third quarter is pegged at $96.6 million, indicating 12.3% year-over-year growth.

The consensus mark for insurance income of $19.1 million implies a 5.9% rise from the year-ago quarter's reported figure.

The consensus mark for total non-interest income is pegged at $555.2 million, indicating a 6.2% increase from the year-ago reported level.

Expenses: Huntington Bancshares’ higher expenses from outside data processing and other services, and deposit and marketing expenses are anticipated to have raised its costs in the third quarter. Also, the bank’s efforts to expand its commercial banking capabilities in high-growth markets by adding more branches is expected to have increased expenses.

Though efficiency initiatives are likely to have reduced expenses to some extent, long-term investments in key growth initiatives are expected to have kept the company’s expense base higher.

Asset Quality: HBAN is likely to have set aside a substantial amount of money for potential delinquent loans, given the expectations of a higher-for-longer interest rate backdrop and tariff-related uncertainty.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total non-accrual loans of $795 million indicates a 7.7% increase from the year-ago quarter's reported figure. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for total non-performing assets of $852 million indicates an 8.7% rise from the year-ago quarter's reported figure.

What Does Our Model Unveil for HBAN?

Per our proven model, the chances of Huntington Bancshares beating estimates this time are high. This is because it does have the right combination of the two key ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or higher. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Earnings ESP: Huntington Bancshares has an Earnings ESP of +0.46%.

Zacks Rank: HBAN currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Huntington Bancshares’ third-quarter earnings of 38 cents per share has been unchanged over the past seven days. The figure suggests a 15.2% rise from the year-ago reported number. 

The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $2.1 billion, indicating a year-over-year rally of 8.9%.

Stocks to Consider

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 First Horizon Corporation FHN is +1.20% and it carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. The company is slated to report third-quarter 2025 results on Oct. 15.

Over the past seven days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for FHN’s quarterly earnings has been unchanged at 45 cents per share.

Truist Financial TFC is scheduled to announce third-quarter 2025 results on Oct. 17. The company has a Zacks Rank #3 at present and an Earnings ESP of +0.68%.

Quarterly earnings estimates for TFC have been unchanged at 98 cents per share over the past week.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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