Northern Trust (NTRS) Q3 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q3 revenue was $2.294B GAAP and $2.3021B FTE, up 13% YoY; excluding notable items, revenue grew 11% and operating leverage exceeded 600 bps.

• Net income was $642.9M and diluted EPS was $3.40, up 40% and 48% YoY, respectively.

• Organic trust-fee growth spanned all three businesses; ROE was 20.1% and pre-tax margin was 34.9%, at or slightly above medium-term targets.

Financial highlights

• FTE revenue rose 13% YoY to $2,302.1M; excluding notable items, revenue grew 11% and expenses rose 4.9% YoY.

• Trust, investment and other servicing fees totaled $1.373B, up 8% YoY; FTE NII was $679.1M, up 14% YoY, and FTE NIM was 1.83%.

• Q3 net income was $642.9M and diluted EPS was $3.40; 9M revenue was $7.198B, net income $1.961B and diluted EPS $10.33.

• Q3 included $48.7M in favorable pre-tax items: a $34.0M guardianship services sale gain and a $14.7M Visa Exchange Offer gain.

• Q3 noninterest expense was $1.493B, up 5% YoY; provision for credit losses was $5.4M.

Outlook and guidance

• Assuming relatively stable markets and rates, Q4 revenue growth is expected at 6%–7% and NII growth at 8%–9% YoY.

• Positive operating leverage is expected in Q4 and at least 500 bps for FY 2026; exceptionally high Q4 leverage may be harder to sustain against a strong prior-year quarter.

• Q4 NII tailwinds include September rate-hike carry-in, an anticipated December Fed hike, securities reinvestment yields of 4%–5% and seasonally higher deposits; no NIM compression is expected.

• Q4 effective tax rate is expected to be closer to 25%; asset servicing fees face lagged fixed-income pressure, partly offset by recovering activity and organic growth.