Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) stock rose 0.91% (As on January 20, 11:31:39 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations, with net income available to common shareholders rising 20% YoY to $699 million, helped by higher interest income ​as loan demand picked up. The bank’s strong performance was driven by improved credit trends and continued business momentum, despite a net negative $0.04 per share impact from certain items. Revenue reached $2.34 billion, matching analyst estimates, while net interest income rose 6% YoY to $1.53 billion.

Moreover, Fifth Third’s net interest income, the difference between what banks pay on pays on deposits and earns as interest ‍on loans, rose 6% to $1.53 billion. Its total loans grew 5%. The lender’s wealth and asset management revenue jumped 13% to record $185 million in the ⁠fourth quarter, while its commercial payments revenue rose 8%. Fifth Third’s ‍assets under management jumped about 16% to $80 billion. However, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based bank’s capital ‌markets fees ‌fell 2% to $121 million, driven by lower loan syndications revenue. In 2025, FITB opened 50 branches in the high-growth Southeast markets. Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal ⁠Reserve approved ⁠Fifth Third’s acquisition ​of Comerica, opens new tab, an all-stock deal worth $10.9 billion that was announced in October. Fifth Third expects the transaction to close on February 1, 2026. The bank’s net interest margin, which measures the profitability of lending operations, increased to 3.13% from ‍2.97%, a year earlier. In 2025, the company produced record NII, generated profitable relationship growth and diligently managed the expenses, generating 230 bps of positive operating leverage. The bank’s strong performance was driven by improved credit trends and continued business momentum, despite a net negative $0.04 per share impact from certain items.

Furthermore, the bank’s credit quality showed improvement with net charge-offs of 40 basis points, down from 46 basis points in the year-ago quarter. Commercial net charge-offs were 27 basis points. The CET1 capital ratio increased 20 basis points to 10.77%. Fifth Third’s middle market loan grew 7%. Consumer household growth reached 2.5%, including 7% in the Southeast markets. Assets under management increased 16% YoY to $80 billion. The bank maintained strong deposit growth with demand deposits up 4% YoY and a loan-to-core deposit ratio of 72%. Tangible book value per share grew 21% compared to the previous year.