Bank Q3 2026: lenders post the beats, then warn about what's coming

The lending beat

PNC reported $2.1 billion in third-quarter net income, a quarter built on commercial lending. Net interest income rose 2% from the prior quarter to $4.2 billion, average loans grew 2% to $372 billion, and management now expects full-year loan growth of about 13.5%. Total revenue was $6.6 billion, down 5% from the prior quarter, while noninterest expense fell 8% to $3.8 billion. m:…0504

Schwab went further: a record quarter. Total net revenue reached $7.2 billion, up 17% from a year earlier, on $190 billion of core net new assets, up 38%. Bank lending balances climbed 35% to $72.3 billion, adjusted earnings per share rose 29% to $1.69, and the firm repurchased $4 billion of common shares over the first nine months of 2026. m:…8791

The fine print

Both banks tucked warnings into their calls. At PNC, nonperforming loans rose 8% to $2.2 billion. CEO Bill Demchak said higher interest rates will likely crimp capital expenditure and slow borrowing, an unusually blunt admission alongside a 13.5% loan-growth target, which suggests the growth story and the rate story are on a collision course. PNC's net interest margin was 2.94%, down 2 basis points, though the bank expects it to reach 3% or more in the fourth quarter as fixed-rate assets reprice. m:…0504

Schwab's caution was about funding. Management expects full-year revenue and net interest margin growth toward the lower end of its previously provided ranges, citing current lending and deposit dynamics: loan growth has outpaced deposit growth, forcing the firm to lean more heavily on diversified funding sources. m:…8791

The agentic workforce

If lending paid the bills, AI was the message. Demchak said PNC is deploying AI across workloads to build an agentic workforce, and the bank said it expects 2027 net interest income to exceed the annualized end-of-2026 run rate by $1 billion to $1.1 billion. m:…0504

Schwab is running the same playbook with guardrails. The firm is piloting a program that lets traders connect large language models, starting with Anthropic's Claude, directly to Schwab servers, while at the same time blocking unauthorized agents from logging in on behalf of clients. Internal AI tools have lifted developer productivity by 25%, and Schwab is introducing Charlie, an AI-powered conversational assistant, to all clients. Seventy percent of new retail households are Gen Z and millennials, while advice penetration sits at just 5% of retail households. m:…8791

Wells Fargo made the organizational version of the same bet, appointing Cayetano Gea-Carrasco to head AI and Data for its Consumer Banking and Lending division, reporting to Saul Van Beurden. Gea-Carrasco previously led enterprise AI transformation at BBVA and spent 15 years at Moody's in senior roles. He will oversee the full lifecycle of AI use cases and simplify the division's data environment. Wells Fargo holds about $2.3 trillion in assets. m:…7367

New names at the top

At Hamilton Lane, the reshuffle was at the very top. Hartley Rogers, who remains chairman, was named co-CEO alongside Juan Delgado-Moreira, who has served as co-CEO since January 2024. Erik Hirsch, after more than 25 years at the firm, becomes executive co-chairman to lead strategic growth initiatives. The firm, which employs about 800 people, reported $1.1 trillion in assets under management and supervision as of June 30, 2026. m:…1683