At a time of mild or nonexistent loan growth, middle-market borrowers in the Lone Star State are providing a boost to Fifth Third Bancorp and Huntington Bancshares.

The Alabama regional lender says it expects expenses to taper off this year and anticipates challenged loans will gradually rise to historically average levels.

Powered by younger, affluent cardholders, American Express saw a 6% increase in billed business during the first quarter, while weak growth still plagues its small-business segment.

The Cleveland-based bank is projecting steady growth in net interest income even as credit losses remain manageable. But Chairman and CEO Chris Gorman also said that he thinks a recession is likely.

The first-quarter increase involved commercial real estate loans, including some problematic multifamily loans and an office credit, but none of the criticized loans were to consumers, officials at the Dallas company say. Further CRE deterioration is anticipated.

The Detroit-based company is exploring ways to make more consumer auto loans without running afoul of stricter capital standards that are expected from the Federal Reserve. Possible approaches include more securitizations and the use of credit risk transfers.

Charge-offs and nonperforming loans rose at the Georgia bank in the first quarter. But it blamed the problem on one large client and said the matter has been resolved.

Amid healthy first-quarter loan growth and improving credit quality, Discover Financial Services slashed its profits by $800 million to offset remediation costs from a 16-year period when it overcharged certain merchants.

The Providence, Rhode Island, company is having discussions with private wealth management teams elsewhere as it seeks to expand its fledgling private bank. In just three months, private banking deposits doubled to $2.4 billion.

After the Minneapolis-based company reported stubbornly high commercial deposit costs, it reduced its full-year forecast for net interest income by $200 million-$500 million.

Rising deposit costs have plagued banks in general, and the Tennessee bank had to pay up to bolster liquidity after its failed merger with TD. But First Horizon retained customers in the first quarter while not paying them the special rates they got last year.

Net charge-offs at the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank increased by more than 80% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier. BofA executives say that the rising losses were in line with the bank's risk appetite.

Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick downplayed the importance of government investigations into potential money laundering issues involving wealth management clients. "We've been focused on our client on-boarding and monitoring processes for a good while," he said.

The Pittsburgh-based regional bank also emphasized expense control for the first quarter and throughout 2024 as it manages credit quality vulnerabilities and higher charge-offs, particularly among office loans.

Bank of America and other banks' balance sheets have remained resilient despite higher interest rates, though uncertainties remain, including inflation and attacks in the Middle East.

The Buffalo, New York-based bank set a goal four years ago to limit its commercial real estate loan portfolio to 160% of its capital and reserves, and it's closing in on that target, says Chief Financial Officer Daryl Bible.

The New York megabank is working to deploy artificial intelligence as it seeks to make its own operations more efficient. Solomon also sees an "unprecedented" opportunity in financing clients' needs as they invest in AI.

The company reported $4.74 billion in net revenue in the first quarter, down 7.3% from a year earlier but exceeding analysts' estimates of $4.71 billion.

The company's 28% increase in first-quarter net income was led by its traders — who eluded the slowdown at chief rival JPMorgan Chase — and bankers who cashed in on a resurgence in dealmaking activity.

The global bank is making good on its promise to trim expenses, but its ability to increase revenues at the same time remains unclear, partly because of the relatively weak performance of its wealth management business.