NEW YORK, February 3, 2026, 16:10 EST — After-hours
- FITB closed up 1.7% on Tuesday, sitting just under its 52-week high
- The bank said it has completed its merger with Comerica, creating a roughly $294 billion-asset lender
- A new SEC filing detailed the stock swap mechanics and flagged more combined financials to come
Fifth Third Bancorp shares (FITB) closed up 1.7% at $52.83 on Tuesday, ending less than 1% below their 52-week high, even as major U.S. indexes slid. The stock followed Monday’s 3.4% gain, with about 14.6 million shares traded on Tuesday after roughly 22.3 million changed hands a day earlier. (Investing)
The Cincinnati-based lender said on Monday it completed its merger with Comerica to form the ninth-largest U.S. bank with about $294 billion in assets. Chief executive Tim Spence called the combination “a pivotal moment,” and the bank said full system and brand conversions are expected in the third quarter; until then, Comerica locations will keep operating under the Comerica name. (Fifth Third Bank)
That closing shifts the story. Traders can stop counting votes and approvals and start counting execution — keeping deposits in place, cutting overlap costs, and getting customers through a technology conversion without a mess.
A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission laid out some mechanics: each Comerica common share was converted into 1.8663 shares of Fifth Third stock, with cash paid in lieu of fractional shares. The filing also said Fifth Third assumed about $2.4 billion of Comerica notes and expects to add required “pro forma” financials — basically, what the combined bank would have looked like — in an amended 8-K within 71 days. (SEC)
Spence told American Banker the bank plans to convert systems over Labor Day weekend and said there is “a lot of work” ahead “to take two companies and make them one” over the next six months. The deal, valued at $10.9 billion when announced, increased the combined company’s assets by more than 35%, the publication reported. (American Banker)
Investors will try to game the timing. Integration costs tend to hit early, while the benefit shows up later — if it shows up — and the path gets bumpier if customers move deposits or slow borrowing while systems change.
But the downside case is familiar: a conversion that drags, unexpected tech and staffing costs, or service disruptions that prompt customers to walk. Any of that can squeeze near-term earnings and force the market to mark down the deal math.
The next catalysts are procedural and operational: the amended 8-K with combined-company financial detail, and concrete updates on the integration plan as the calendar runs toward the Labor Day weekend systems cutover.
