Huntington Bancshares Q1 2026 Outlook and Forecast Changes

Huntington Bancshares’ guidance for Q1 2026 and comparison to previous forecasts

1) What guidance for Q1 2026 was provided in the excerpts?

In the provided excerpts from Huntington’s Q1 2026 earnings call, management does not present a standalone “Q1 2026 guidance” figure set (e.g., specific guided ranges for Q1 quarterly EPS, NII, NIM, or revenue/expense totals for that quarter). Instead, the company discusses:

• Full-year 2026 outlook updates (including NIM/NII positioning and expense growth expectations) ¹²³⁴⁵
• Certain quarterly-to-quarterly dynamics (e.g., possible variability in reported NIM due to integration/portfolio optimization, while maintaining the full-year trajectory) ⁴

Therefore, based strictly on the provided filing excerpts, a numeric “Q1 2026 guidance” cannot be extracted. What can be supported is Huntington’s message that conditions were broadly consistent with prior quarters at the start of the year and that pipelines for Q2 were healthy ¹.

2) The closest “Q1 2026” forward-looking guidance items mentioned (how Q1 performance informed outlook)

Although no explicit Q1 2026 guidance ranges are stated, the company does connect its 2026 outlook to the margin/earnings mechanics that would affect quarterly results, including the initial-year quarter context:

• Management characterized the operating environment as “consistent with prior quarters” and said the factors discussed “do not change our outlook for performance this year.” ¹
• The CFO noted Q1’s reported NIM of 3.24% and explained the drivers, including the election to add ~$4 billion of higher cash balances at the Fed (which has “negligible impact on revenues” but reduces reported NIM via the denominator effect). ⁶
• Management also indicated that NIM could show quarter-to-quarter variability as they integrate/optimize the Cadence portfolio, but that the full-year trajectory remains consistent with the outlook. ⁴

These points are guidance drivers rather than a specific Q1 2026 numeric forecast.

3) Comparison to previous forecasts (clear changes disclosed in the excerpts)

While Q1-specific numeric guidance isn’t provided, Huntington does disclose material changes to its previously expected 2026 trajectory, which are the most direct “previous forecasts vs updated outlook” comparison available in the excerpts:

A) 2026 NIM guidance decreased

• Huntington said it now expects 2026 NIM to trend into the high 3.20s versus its prior expectation in the mid-3.30s. ²
• Management attributed the NIM change primarily to:
  • ~5 bps from higher Fed cash balances ²
  • ~2–3 bps from “asset optimization and deposit costs” ²

Management also reiterated the “call it, 7 to 8 basis points lower” framing tied to:

• 5 bps from higher cash balances at the Fed ⁷
• 2–3 bps from lower core NIM from a slightly higher deposit-cost trajectory and slightly lower asset yields ⁷

B) Loan growth outlook shifted toward the midpoint (from the high end)

• Management stated it is “fine-tuning” its loan growth plan and now expects growth to track closer to the midpoint of its range versus the high end earlier in the year. ²
• In Q&A, management described this as calibrating to a “slightly softer” economic growth outlook at the margin and explicitly linked revenue outlook pressure to “lower loan growth… north of at the middle of the range as opposed to… tracking to the high end.” ⁵⁷

C) Expense growth guidance tightened to the lower half (and rephased)

• Huntington said it is tightening its 2026 expense growth range to the lower half of 32.5% to 33.5%. ⁴
• It also stated that this range is “inclusive of higher variable costs” from the projected higher fee revenues. ⁴

D) Guidance direction on NII (linked to margin/loan growth)

• Management noted that with updated guidance, NII is expected to be at the low end of the guided range, driven by NIM and loan-growth calibration (while offset by higher fees and tighter expense growth). ³⁵

4) What this implies for “Q1 2026 guidance” versus prior forecasts

Given the excerpts:

• There is no explicit, separate Q1 2026 numerical guidance set to compare against.
• However, the company’s updated 2026 outlook (lower NIM trajectory, loan growth moving from high-end to midpoint, and expense growth shifting to the lower half of the range) would generally imply that quarterly earnings power during 2026—starting from the margin mechanics observed in Q1 (including higher Fed cash balances affecting reported NIM)—would be less favorable than previously forecast, at least on the NIM/NII line. ²⁶⁵⁷

In short: Huntington did not provide a standalone Q1 2026 guidance figure in the excerpt, but it did provide updated 2026 forecast mechanics (especially NIM and loan growth) that represent the meaningful change versus prior forecasts—and those mechanics were already visible in Q1 through the reported NIM drivers and the Fed cash election. ²⁶⁵

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Direct answer (concise)

• Q1 2026 guidance (numeric ranges): Not explicitly stated in the provided excerpts; management instead discusses that the environment was consistent with prior quarters and focuses on full-year 2026 outlook updates. ¹
• Comparison to previous forecasts: Huntington clearly reduced its 2026 NIM outlook from the mid-3.30s to the high 3.20s (including ~5 bps from higher Fed cash and ~2–3 bps from asset/deposit factors) and shifted loan growth expectations toward the midpoint rather than the high end, while tightening expense growth to the lower half of the prior range. ²⁵⁷⁴