Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) finished Friday, December 12, 2025, modestly lower in regular trading, then ticked up in after-hours action—an end-of-week setup shaped by fresh company operating data, new analyst notes, and a broader tech-led market pullback.
SCHW closed at $96.65, down about 0.4% on the session, with the stock trading around $96.84 (+0.2%) in after-hours as of early evening updates. [1]
One quick calendar reality check: December 13, 2025 is a Saturday, so U.S. equity markets (NYSE/Nasdaq) do not open. The next full regular session is Monday, December 15, 2025—meaning “before the open” planning is really about weekend headline risk and Monday premarket positioning. [2]
Below is what mattered on 12/12, what analysts highlighted that same day, and what traders typically watch into the next open for a rate-sensitive brokerage like Schwab.
After-hours recap: where SCHW stood after the Dec. 12 closing bell
Regular session (Fri, Dec. 12):
- Close: $96.65 (about -0.41%)
- Day range: $94.47 to $97.38
- Volume: ~13.4 million shares [3]
After-hours (Fri evening):
- After-hours quote: about $96.84 (+0.20%) in delayed after-hours reporting [4]
The move wasn’t dramatic—more “micro-adjustment” than “plot twist”—but it came after a news-heavy day for Schwab investors.
The big Schwab-specific catalyst on 12/12: November monthly activity report
Before you can interpret SCHW’s day-to-day price action, you have to understand what the market actually reads in Schwab’s monthly activity release. It’s not an earnings report, but it’s a high-frequency pulse on the business: asset flows, client activity, and cash levels that feed directly into revenue drivers (asset-based fees, trading, and net interest revenue).
On December 12, Schwab released its Monthly Activity Report for November 2025, highlighting: [5]
- Core net new assets:$40.4B, up 40% year-over-year (YoY), bringing year-to-date core net new assets to $440.3B
- Total client assets:$11.83T, up 15% YoY, and roughly flat versus October
- New brokerage accounts:365,000 in November; more than 4.2 million opened YTD
- Daily average trades (DATs):8.46 million
- Average margin loan balances:$108.9B (up 8% month-over-month)
- Transactional sweep cash: down $1.3B to $427.5B
Schwab also disclosed scale metrics that matter for long-term competitive positioning: 38.3M active brokerage accounts, 5.7M workplace plan participant accounts, and 2.2M banking accounts (as of Nov. 30, 2025). [6]
A detail the market watches closely: “strong YoY, softer MoM”
The headline $40.4B core net new assets number looks strong—up sharply from last year. But it was also lower than October’s pace (October core net new assets in the same table were $44.4B, making November down ~9% sequentially). That combination—strong YoY growth but a cooler month-over-month print—often creates a “good news, but…” trading response. [7]
Another telling clue: where client trading dollars went
Inside the same monthly activity tables, Schwab reported net sell activity in mutual funds and net buy activity in ETFs for November—continuing the industry’s long-running shift toward ETFs: [8]
- Mutual funds: net (sell) activity of -$7.255B
- ETFs: net buy activity of +$24.909B
- Money market funds: net +$7.969B
This mix can matter because it hints at how clients are positioning risk (ETFs), liquidity (money markets), and fee structures (mutual funds vs ETFs)—all of which can feed into Schwab’s revenue composition over time.
Why SCHW finished lower anyway: the market backdrop was risk-off
Schwab’s monthly report was mostly “risk-on” in tone—new accounts, strong trading, higher margin balances. Yet the stock ended down, and the broader tape helps explain why.
On December 12, U.S. stocks fell from recent highs in a session led lower by big tech and AI-linked names. The S&P 500 closed down about 1.1%, the Nasdaq fell about 1.7%, and the Dow slid about 0.5%. Rising Treasury yields were also described as adding pressure. [9]
So part of SCHW’s decline reads less like “the market hated Schwab’s numbers” and more like “financials got pulled around in a broader de-risking day.”
The key analyst forecast on 12/12: Barclays trims target, keeps Overweight
Analyst actions can matter most when they confirm the market’s mood—or when they contradict it sharply enough to force repricing. On December 12, Barclays did something more subtle: it lowered its price target, but kept a bullish stance.
- Barclays: price target cut to $111 from $115, rating Overweight maintained [10]
The context given was sector-level: Barclays adjusted targets across brokers/asset managers/exchanges while arguing market conditions look “constructive” into 2026 (with a more mixed outlook for exchanges and traditional asset managers). [11]
In other words: not a panic button—more like recalibrating the altitude while keeping the flight plan.
The other 12/12 “forecast” stream: Zacks’ research view on Schwab’s trajectory
Two Zacks-driven pieces dated December 12 circulated broadly through finance portals and were part of the day’s Schwab discourse.
1) Zacks Research Daily (via Nasdaq): growth outlook + risk factors
A Zacks research summary published late on Dec. 12 flagged a mixed setup: [12]
- SCHW has gained ~21.8% over the past year (as cited in that research note).
- Zacks highlighted that expenses may remain elevated due to continued investment (including marketing), and it cited an expectation for expenses to grow at a ~7% CAGR through 2027.
- The same note projected total client assets could grow at a ~8.2% CAGR through 2027.
- It also pointed to a thesis that relatively higher rates (despite cuts) plus paying down higher-cost supplemental funding could support net interest margin.
That’s essentially the tug-of-war at the heart of Schwab’s story: scale-driven asset growth and balance sheet normalization vs. ongoing spend to compete for clients and capabilities.
2) Zacks “Strong Value Stock” (via Nasdaq): valuation + estimates
A separate Zacks piece emphasized valuation and earnings revisions, noting: [13]
- Zacks Rank: #3 (Hold) with a VGM Score of A
- A cited forward P/E of ~20.18
- 12 analysts (per Zacks’ framing) raised earnings estimates over the last 60 days
- Zacks consensus EPS estimate for fiscal 2025 cited as $4.81, up $0.16
For a Google News/Discover audience, the practical takeaway is: even among broadly constructive reads, the “consensus” tone was not “nothing can go wrong.” It was “the machine is working, but watch costs, watch markets, watch rates.”
A strategic headline from 12/12: Schwab draws a line between investing and “gambling” trends
One of the most discussed non-numerical Schwab headlines on December 12 came from an interview framing Schwab’s positioning versus newer trading-first platforms.
In a Wall Street Journal piece dated Dec. 12, CEO Rick Wurster described Schwab as drawing a “bright line” between long-term investing and more gambling-adjacent products (such as prediction-market-style “event contracts”), as rivals like Robinhood lean into higher-frequency speculative behavior. [14]
This is not an immediate earnings catalyst, but it matters in two longer arcs investors care about:
- Brand + trust strategy (advisor-friendly, long-horizon, full-service)
- Product roadmap risk (what Schwab chooses not to build can be as important as what it does)
What to know before the “13/12” open: there isn’t one—so here’s the Monday setup instead
Because Saturday, Dec. 13 has no U.S. stock market open, the real question is: what could reprice SCHW between Friday’s close and Monday, Dec. 15? [15]
1) Rates, rates, rates (because Schwab is rate-sensitive)
Schwab’s earnings power is tightly connected to interest rates and client cash behavior (sweeps, deposits, money markets). Friday’s monthly report showed:
- Transactional sweep cash:$427.5B (down $1.3B in November) [16]
- Average bank deposit account balances:$73.803B (table figure, in millions of dollars) [17]
Meanwhile, the macro narrative on Dec. 12 included ongoing debate about the path of monetary policy after recent Fed moves, with officials signaling differing views about future rates. [18]
The Monday implication: watch Treasury yields and rate expectations in premarket trading, because they can spill into SCHW quickly.
2) Next week’s data calendar could spike volatility—and volatility can cut both ways for brokers
Reuters flagged that investors were looking ahead to a week of delayed U.S. economic releases (including a jobs report and CPI) after a government shutdown disrupted normal publication schedules. [19]
MarketWatch’s weekly calendar also lists several “major report” slots starting Monday, Dec. 15. [20]
For Schwab, more volatility can mean:
- Higher client trading activity (potentially supportive for transaction-related revenue signals), but also
- Risk appetite shifts that affect net flows and margin balances
3) Analysts and price targets: watch for follow-through after Barclays’ move
Barclays’ $111 target cut (with Overweight intact) is the kind of note that can prompt other desks to publish “me too / disagree / sharpen the pencil” updates in the following sessions—especially if the sector is being re-rated into year-end positioning. [21]
4) Weekend headline risk on strategy: “investing vs gambling” narrative
The CEO’s public stance against more casino-like offerings can play well with long-term clients and regulators—but markets sometimes ask a different question: does restraint leave growth on the table? Expect that debate to echo in commentary if “event contracts” or similar products stay hot elsewhere. [22]
Bottom line: Dec. 12 was a “fundamentals up, tape down” day for SCHW
Schwab’s Dec. 12 news flow was dominated by operational strength (assets and engagement) with a dash of tempered expectations (sequential flow cooling, target trim). [23]
If you’re tracking SCHW into the next session, the cleanest mental model is:
- Business pulse: still expanding (assets, accounts, activity) [24]
- Stock driver #1: macro/rates and risk appetite [25]
- Stock driver #2: how analysts translate monthly flows into 2026 earnings power [26]
- Immediate setup: no Saturday open; next real battleground is Monday, Dec. 15 [27]
References
1. www.marketwatch.com, 2. www.nyse.com, 3. www.marketwatch.com, 4. www.marketwatch.com, 5. pressroom.aboutschwab.com, 6. pressroom.aboutschwab.com, 7. pressroom.aboutschwab.com, 8. pressroom.aboutschwab.com, 9. apnews.com, 10. www.tipranks.com, 11. www.tipranks.com, 12. www.nasdaq.com, 13. www.nasdaq.com, 14. www.wsj.com, 15. www.nyse.com, 16. pressroom.aboutschwab.com, 17. pressroom.aboutschwab.com, 18. www.investopedia.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.marketwatch.com, 21. www.tipranks.com, 22. www.wsj.com, 23. pressroom.aboutschwab.com, 24. pressroom.aboutschwab.com, 25. apnews.com, 26. www.tipranks.com, 27. www.nyse.com
