New York, January 23, 2026, 13:24 EST — Regular session.
- Huntington Bancshares shares are lower in afternoon trade as regional bank stocks slide.
- The lender is lining up a note offering and pushing toward a Cadence Bank closing in early February.
- Investors are watching net interest income guidance, integration costs and next week’s Fed decision.
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated shares were down about 1% at $17.47 on Friday afternoon, tracking a broader retreat in U.S. regional banks. The stock traded between $17.37 and $17.84, while the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF fell about 3%.
The pullback comes as traders try to sort the near-term math: a fresh earnings update, two bank tie-ups still in motion, and now a push into the debt market. For Huntington, the story is less about a single headline and more about what 2026 looks like once the deals settle and the rate backdrop stops shifting.
HBAN dropped 6% on Thursday to close at $17.64 after the company’s quarterly report, with investors focusing on higher expenses and credit provisions. Net interest income — the spread between what a bank earns on loans and pays out on deposits — was up, but the stock still took a hit. (Fool)
Huntington has told investors to expect net interest income to rise 10% to 13% in 2026 on a stand-alone basis, and said its planned Cadence Bank purchase would add about $1.85 billion to $1.90 billion to that line once it closes. The lender also forecast double-digit average loan growth and high-single-digit deposit growth for the year. (Reuters)
In its quarterly release, the Columbus, Ohio-based bank posted fourth-quarter net income of $519 million, or 30 cents per share, and an adjusted 37 cents per share after stripping out $130 million of pre-tax “notable items” tied mainly to acquisition expenses. Net interest income rose 6% from the prior quarter to $1.5 billion, and average loans climbed to $146.6 billion, while net charge-offs were 0.24% of average loans. CEO Steve Steinour said the bank entered 2026 with “excellent momentum” and that “backlogs and pipeline are robust.” (Huntington Bancshares Incorporated)
A filing on Friday showed Huntington is also preparing to sell debt securities, with a preliminary prospectus supplement laying out an offering that includes senior and subordinated notes, including floating-rate debt linked to compounded SOFR — a U.S. overnight rate benchmark. The same filing reiterated that the Cadence merger is expected to close on or about Feb. 1, subject to remaining conditions.
Huntington’s board declared a quarterly common dividend of 15.5 cents per share, unchanged from the prior quarter, payable April 1 to shareholders of record on March 18. (Huntington Bancshares Incorporated)
But the path from guidance to delivery is still messy. Any re-acceleration in funding costs, a softer credit cycle, or integration stumbles could squeeze earnings even if loan demand holds up, and debt issuance adds another variable for investors trying to model capital and returns.
On the earnings call, CFO Zachary Wasserman told analysts “very little of the revenue synergies are baked into the guidance at this point,” hinting the bank expects upside as it folds in the new businesses. That also leaves room for disappointment if the synergies take longer to show up in the numbers. (Fool)
Next up: traders are bracing for the Federal Reserve’s Jan. 27-28 meeting and Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference on Jan. 28, a key marker for rate expectations that feed directly into bank margin forecasts. Investors will also be watching for final pricing and size on Huntington’s notes and any new detail on the Cadence closing timeline. (Federalreserve)
