- Key takeaway: Huntington senior executives said cost cuts and revenue synergies resulting from a pair of Texas bank acquisitions will drive increased earnings and improved financial metrics next year.
- Forward look: Huntington is targeting earnings per share of $1.90 to $1.93 in 2027.
- Expert quote: "We're not seeing any signs of major deterioration, and we believe, based on our posture and risk appetite, that we're in a fantastic position as we go forward." — Brant Standridge, Huntington's president of consumer and regional banking
With the systems conversion for the newly acquired Cadence Bank scheduled for later this month, senior executives at Huntington Bancshares said Tuesday the Columbus, Ohio-based company is on target to deliver as much as $500 million in cost savings and revenue synergies by the end of 2026.
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"The conversion, getting everyone on one platform, unlocks a lot of potential," Brant Standridge, president of consumer and regional banking for the $285 billion-asset Huntington, said in remarks at the Morgan Stanley Financial Institutions Conference in New York. "The early signs are positive."
Those signs include retaining more than 990 of 1,000 Cadence associates in what Standridge described as "significant revenue-generating roles" who were offered employment packages earlier this year. Standridge also reported a 10-fold increase in digital account openings within the Cadence footprint since April, when Huntington made its more streamlined account-opening platform available.
"And that's also without having converted and displaying the Huntington brand in the market. So we're really pleased with where we are," Standridge said.
Huntington is engaged in a multi-year growth program, including a major branch-building initiative in North Carolina and South Carolina, along with an expanded commercial banking presence in major markets such as Atlanta, Miami and Nashville.
Texas, however, has been the linchpin. Indeed, Huntington has become one of the first companies to appear on a special Nasdaq listing for Texas-involved companies.
Huntington entered the Texas market early in 2024, hiring a team of commercial bankers in Dallas. The expansion accelerated in July 2025, when Huntington announced plans to purchase the $12.6 billion-asset, Dallas-based Veritex Holdings.
It then took flight in October, after Huntington agreed to pay $7.4 billion to acquire the $53.5 billion-asset Cadence. The selling bank, which had dual headquarters in Houston and Tupelo, Mississippi, operated more than 100 branches in the Lone Star State.
Huntington has already achieved the $70 million of cost savings it projected in connection with the Veritex acquisition, and it has "a clear line of sight" to deliver on the $365 million in operating-expense reductions it promised when unveiling the Cadence transaction, Chief Financial Officer Zach Wasserman said at the Morgan Stanley conference.
"All the decisions and actions needed to execute that are underway," Wasserman said. "Once we get through the conversion, we'll be able to fully deliver those actions." He added that he expects $435 million of cumulative cost synergies by the end of 2026.
Huntington also expects to generate $500 million in revenue synergies from the two Texas deals by the end of 2028, including $50 million to $75 million in 2026, according to Wasserman. The CFO reiterated a 2027 target of $1.90 to $1.93 in earnings per share, along with a target of 18% to 19% return on tangible common equity.
For 2025, Huntington earned $1.39 per share, and it reported a return on tangible common equity of 15.7%.
Huntington's latest report seemed to resonate with investors. Shares in the bank were trading up about 2% Tuesday afternoon at $16.80, reversing at least temporarily a downward pricing trend that has seen the stock fall nearly 4% since the start of 2026.
Wasserman acknowledged the dip in Huntington's stock price on Tuesday, saying "We feel this very viscerally and are very frustrated by it."
Huntington has been able to achieve solid 2026 results "without any deterioration from a credit perspective," Standridge said, crediting a resilient economy. He added that commercial clients have managed tariff and supply-chain disruptions effectively, while consumers, including middle- and lower-income households, have continued to spend.
"We're not seeing any signs of major deterioration, and we believe, based on our posture and risk appetite, that we're in a fantastic position as we go forward," he said.
Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Mike Santomassimo, who also presented Tuesday at the Morgan Stanley conference, delivered a similarly upbeat assessment.
"You're not seeing a lot of change in behavior over the last few quarters," Santomassimo said, adding that the $2.17 trillion-asset Wells Fargo is experiencing "very good activity levels" across all of its businesses.
