KeyCorp’s first-quarter 2026 results showed revenue of $1.953 billion, up 10% from $1.773 billion a year earlier, while net income-related operating momentum also improved across several key measures.
Diluted earnings per share rose to $0.44 from $0.33 in 1Q25, a 33% increase, and from $0.43 in 4Q25. Return on assets climbed to 1.14% from 0.88% in 1Q25 and 1.08% in 4Q25. Return on tangible common equity reached 13.0%, up from 11.2% a year earlier and 12.4% in the prior quarter. The cash efficiency ratio improved to 60.4% from 63.5% in 1Q25 and 61.6% in 4Q25.
Net interest income increased to $1.230 billion, compared with $1.105 billion in 1Q25 and $1.223 billion in 4Q25. That was an 11% year-over-year gain and a 1% sequential increase. Noninterest income rose to $723 million from $668 million a year ago, but fell 8% from $782 million in 4Q25.
Noninterest expense was $1.181 billion, up 4% from $1.131 billion in 1Q25, but down 6% from $1.241 billion in 4Q25. Provision for credit losses declined to $106 million from $118 million a year earlier and from $108 million in the fourth quarter.
On the balance-sheet and capital side, KeyCorp reported a marked CET1 ratio of 10.0%. It also said it had repurchased $389 million of stock in 1Q26 and expects $1.3 billion of share repurchases in 2026. The company said assets under management were about $70 billion, up 14% year over year, while priority fee-based businesses grew 12% year over year.
Client activity also improved. Net new relationship household growth was up 2% year over year, and commercial client growth was up 3%. Consumer deposits have increased 23% since 4Q19, or about $14 billion, reaching roughly $88 billion in retail and business banking deposits. The firm said it now serves about 2.2 million households and more than 250,000 business clients.
KeyCorp also highlighted its net interest margin outlook, saying it had closed about two-thirds of the gap to a roughly 3.2% peer median and is targeting 3.25%+ by 4Q27. It pointed to $6.3 billion of receive-fixed swap maturities in 2026 and $10.7 billion in 2027, along with projected residential mortgage cash flows and fixed-rate MBS runoff, as drivers of that improvement. The market has reacted to these announcements by moving the company's shares -0.05% to a price of $21.33. For more information, read the company's full 8-K submission here.
