Back Banks

Takeaways from last week’s conferences – Consumer & Capital Markets activity a solid positive while investors struggle for the right deposit narrative.

Published on June 1, 2026

∙ Download the PDF Report

Bill Hebel

Brian Herlihy

Last week’s conferences added some helpful color to some of the underlying trends we have been observing particularly in the capital markets. Updates on the capital markets front were universally positive across the spectrum, with Bank of America and Wells Fargo citing mid-teens YoY growth in trading and strong investment banking trends while JPM cited low double-digit growth in both. Goldman Sachs in particular has been at the vectors of what they described as a “generational business spend.” Whether it’s AI infrastructure spend, energy & power, logistics, etc., Goldman is sitting at the nexus of advice and capital raising across their business lines.

The other key positive we saw from last week’s presentations was the resilience around the consumer and consumer spend. From Mastercard and Visa to American Express, all talked about a consistency of spend (if not a small uptick) QTD from consumers. While inflation has likely caused a bit of dis-savings, all of the managements remarked that steady employment trends are the biggest driver behind the consistent spend.
On the regional bank front, there were competing narratives and price action last week. First in terms of updates:
- Wells Fargo (WFC) – Markets & Investment Banking tracking to mid-teens YoY growth and Investment Management tracking to low to mid-double-digit growth. Stock reacted positively and was one of the best regional performers last week.
- Huntington Bank (HBAN) – The tag line here was really “no new news.” We’ve mentioned a number of times that after much volatility in the guide/results post the multiple acquisitions, we though HBAN would benefit from a period of quiet execution and stock buyback. With little “new news” and a reiteration of the buyback, HBAN was also one of the best regional performers last week.

Truist (TFC) – While upbeat about commercial engagement and commercial pipelines, management did indicate that NII was under a bit more stress and noted a desire for more non-IB deposits. While non-IB represents ~26% of deposits (not as low as some in our coverage), that commentary did seem to set off renewed concerns around deposit costs with the Fed on hold. Recall that we’ve been highlighting Regions Financial (RF) as a sector outperform relative to Truist as a sector underperform not only for the non-IB mix, but for the forward starting swap headwinds for TFC in 2H’26.

Citizens Financial (CFG) – reiterated their guidance for the Q & FY’26 which we took positively especially from the fee side (capital markets) where CFG has tended to be a bit aggressive with past guides. While they did acknowledge more pricing competition, CFG commented that they already had a robust loan growth guide hence the high 40’s cumulative deposit beta guide they gave which contemplated it. Also highlighted that higher rates/steeper curve was a net positive for them as well. That being said, the stock was one of the poorer performers on the week.

Our takeaways on the week:

Capital Markets activity and loan growth are strong driven by the twin forces of CapEx expansion (One Big Beautiful Bill) and the “generational” cap-ex spend Goldman mentioned to fund AI datacenters, Energy & Power, Logistics, etc.
Consumer Spend – resilient if not accelerating slightly. Employment continues to be strong and as such, spend trends remain intact. Credit trends also staying benign even though JPM did acknowledge that they and the industry are overearning on credit.
Deposit Costs – An area where the narrative is in flux at the moment. We feel like there may have originally been concern that the low cost deposit cohort (high NIB as a % of deposits) could be first to lose deposits as traditional competition picked up along with the threat from stablecoin. It did feel like last week’s performance was some mean reversion on that theme with the banks with a lower NIB deposit mix as a % of total banks underperforming. We would argue that rather than focus on any one metric in isolation (like NIB as a % of total), you do need to take each bank’s moving parts (how fast they’re growing, deposit remix, fixed asset reprice, etc.) into account. More to follow on this topic as we hear from the rest of the banks during conference season. Suffice it to say, we believe the ability to hold down deposit costs will be one of the most important differentiators of bank stock performance as we move into the 2nd half of 2026.

Current Rating Distribution

Coverage Universe	Percent
Sector Outperform	31.25
Sector Perform	50
Sector Underperform	18.75

DISCLOSURES AND DISCLAIMERS

Analyst Certification

The analyst, 22V Research Group, primarily responsible for the preparation of this research report attests to the following: (1) that the views and opinions rendered in this research report reflect his or her personal views about the subject companies or issuers; and (2) that no part of the research analyst’s compensation was, is, or will be directly related to the specific recommendations or views in this research report.

Analyst Certifications and Independence of Research.

Each of the 22V Research analysts whose names appear on the front page of this report hereby certify that all the views expressed in this Report accurately reflect our personal views about any and all of the subject securities or issuers and that no part of our compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views of in this Report.

22V Research (the “Company”) is an independent research provider. The Company is not a member of the FINRA or the SIPC and is not a registered broker dealer or investment adviser. 22V Research has no other regulated or unregulated business activities which conflict with its provision of independent research.

22V Research, LLC is a professional services and independent publication organization. 22V Research, LLC is not a securities broker-dealer, not a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), not a registered investment advisor (RIA) and not a member of SIPC.

Securities transactions, when offered, are offered by 22V Securities, LLC through LPS Capital, LLC. Certain employees of 22V Securities, LLC are dually registered as securities representatives of LPS Capital, LLC or Analyst Hub Securities, LLC. 22V Securities, LPS Capital and Analyst Hub Securities are members FINRA, SIPC.

https://brokercheck.finra.org/

Current Ratings Definition.

SECTOR OUTPERFORM: An “outperform” rating anticipates the company will outperform the S&P Regional Banking Index (peer group).

SECTOR PERFORM: A “market perform” rating anticipates the company will perform in line with the S&P Regional Banking Index (peer group).

SECTOR UNDERPERFORM: An “underperform” rating anticipates the company will underperform the S&P Regional Banking Index (peer group).

Limitation Of Research And Information.

This Report has been prepared for distribution to only qualified institutional or professional clients of 22V Research Group. The contents of this Report represent the views, opinions, and analyses of its authors. The information contained herein does not constitute financial, legal, tax or any other advice. All third-party data presented herein were obtained from publicly available sources which are believed to be reliable; however, the Company makes no warranty, express or implied, concerning the accuracy or completeness of such information. In no event shall the Company be responsible or liable for the correctness of, or update to, any such material or for any damage or lost opportunities resulting from use of this data. Nothing contained in this Report or any distribution by the Company should be construed as any offer to sell, or any solicitation of an offer to buy, any security or investment. Any research or other material received should not be construed as individualized investment advice. Investment decisions should be made as part of an overall portfolio strategy and you should consult with a professional financial advisor, legal and tax advisor prior to making any investment decision. 22V Research Group shall not be liable for any direct or indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage (including loss of profits, revenue or goodwill) arising from any investment decisions based on information or research obtained from 22V Research Group.

Reproduction And Distribution Strictly Prohibited.

No user of this Report may reproduce, modify, copy, distribute, sell, resell, transmit, transfer, license, assign or publish the Report itself or any information contained therein. Notwithstanding the foregoing, clients with access to working models are permitted to alter or modify the information contained therein, provided that it is solely for such client’s own use. This Report is not intended to be available or distributed for any purpose that would be deemed unlawful or otherwise prohibited by any local, state, national or international laws or regulations or would otherwise subject the Company to registration or regulation of any kind within such jurisdiction.

Copyrights, Trademarks, Intellectual Property.

22V Research Group, and any logos or marks included in this Report are proprietary materials. The use of such terms and logos and marks without the express written consent of 22V Research Group is strictly prohibited. The copyright in the pages or in the screens of the Report, and in the information and material therein, is proprietary material owned by 22V Research Group unless otherwise indicated. The unauthorized use of any material on this Report may violate numerous statutes, regulations and laws, including, but not limited to, copyright, trademark, trade secret or patent laws.