SYFSynchrony Financial
Industry Banks Updated 28 Sep 2026 Price 23 Oct 2026
If management hits its targets, one share in 12 months
$73.64 → $85.04
Promises vs. what happened
16 claims · 8 decksEvery target management put in a slide deck, and whether they hit it, missed it, or quietly dropped it.
| Promise | Made in | What happened | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY24 EPS $8.45-8.55 | Q3 '24 | $8.55, the top of the range | Held |
| FY25 net charge-offs 5.8-6.1% | Q4 '24 | 5.65%, better than guided | Held |
| Price changes lift the loan yield | Q4 '24 | +24-53bps a quarter through '25 | Held |
| 2H25 net interest margin ~15.6% | Q2 '25 | 15.72% | Held |
| Walmart/OnePay live in autumn '25 | Q2 '25 | launched Sep '25; unnamed in the '26 decks | Held |
| $1.0B more buyback, $2.1B left | Q3 '25 | done, then replaced by $6.5B | Held |
| Long-term 2.5%+ ROA, 28%+ ROTCE | Q4 '24 | ROTCE 25.8% in '25, 25.2% in Q3 '26; ROA above | Late |
| Late-fee rule live on 1 Oct '24 | Q3 '24 | never took effect; dropped from the decks | Dropped |
| FY26 EPS $9.10-9.50 | Q4 '25 | $7.54 after Q3; needs $1.71-1.96 in Q4; open | Open |
| FY26 net charge-offs 5.5-6.0% | Q4 '25 | 4.79% in Q3 '26, below 5.5%; open | Open |
| FY26 loan growth, mid-single digits | Q4 '25 | +3% at Q3 '26; open | Open |
| $6.5B open-ended buyback, +13% dividend | Q1 '26 | about $1.9B used, $4.6B left at Sep '26; open | Open |
| FY25 loan growth, low single digits | Q4 '24 | -0.9% | Missed |
| FY25 net revenue $15.2-15.7B | Q4 '24 | $14.98B, walked down three times | Missed |
| FY25 efficiency ratio 31.5-32.5% | Q4 '24 | about 34.3% | Missed |
| FY25 retailer share 3.60-3.85% | Q4 '24 | raised to 3.95-4.10% | Missed |
What they’re pitching
the headline page, deck by deckThe headline from each quarterly results deck over two years, so you can see what they want you to focus on, and when it changes.
'24Q4
'24Q1
'25Q2
'25Q3
'25Q4
'25Q1
'26Q2
'26
Late feesFirst seen Q3 '24
Price changesFirst seen Q3 '24
CreditOff page one Q3 '25
ConsistencyNew Q4 '24 · Page one since Q1 '26
PartnersPage one since Q1 '25
Co-brandFirst seen Q1 '25
Growth spendFirst seen Q2 '25
Capital returnOff page one Q2 '26
SpendPage one since Q2 '26
on the headline page further in the deck not in the deck▲ onto page one▼ off page one● first mentionTap a mark for the quote.
Late fee rule
“(assumed late fee rule implementation on October 1, 2024) $7.60 - $7.80”
Deck Q3 2024 Earnings Presentation · p. 12 ·
Late fee rule
“No impact of late fee rule included, given the uncertainty regarding the effective date*”
Deck Q4 2024 Earnings Presentation · p. 14 ·
Late fee rule
“Increase primarily driven by Employee costs partially offset by lower operational losses and preparatory expenses related to the Late Fee rule in the prior year”
Deck Q2 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 7 ·
Late fee rule
“Increase primarily driven by Employee costs and Information processing costs, partially offset by preparatory expenses related to the proposed Late Fee rule change in the prior year”
Deck Q3 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 7 ·
Late fee rule
“Preparatory expenses related to Late Fee rule change 1 — — — 1 49”
Deck Q4 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 14 ·
PPPCs lifting loan yield
“Loan receivables yield of 21.54%, up 30 bps primarily driven by the impact of our PPPC and lower payment rate partially offset by higher reversals”
Deck Q3 2024 Earnings Presentation · p. 7 ·
PPPCs lifting loan yield
“growth in I&F and Other income** as the impact of our PPPC builds partially offset by lower average Prime Rate and lower late fees”
Deck Q4 2024 Earnings Presentation · p. 14 ·
PPPCs lifting loan yield
“Loan receivables yield of 21.33%, up 24 bps primarily driven by the impact of our PPPCs1, partially offset by lower benchmark rates and lower late fee incidence”
Deck Q1 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 6 ·
PPPCs lifting loan yield
“Loan receivables yield of 21.54%, up 53 bps primarily driven by the impact of our PPPCs1, partially offset by lower benchmark rates and lower late fee incidence”
Deck Q2 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 6 ·
PPPCs lifting loan yield
“Loan receivables yield of 21.89%, up 35 bps primarily driven by the impact of our PPPCs1, partially offset by lower benchmark rates and lower late fee incidence”
Deck Q3 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 6 ·
PPPCs lifting loan yield
“Loan receivables yield of 21.80%, up 53 bps primarily driven by the impact of our PPPCs1, partially offset by lower benchmark rates and lower late fee incidence”
Deck Q4 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 7 ·
PPPCs lifting loan yield
“Interest and fees increased 2%, or $101 million primarily driven by the impact of our PPPCs1, partially offset by lower benchmark rates”
Deck Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 6 ·
PPPCs lifting loan yield
“Loan receivables yield (0.09) %”
Deck Q2 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 6 ·
Credit improvement
“Year-over-year growth of delinquencies continued to slow in Q3”
Deck Q3 2024 Earnings Presentation · p. 12 ·
Credit improvement
“Net charge-offs versus historical seasonality 2Q to 3Q 2017-19 Avg. 2024”
Deck Q2 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Credit improvement
“Net charge-offs 5.6 – 5.8% 5.6 – 5.7% • Improved range reflecting impact of credit actions, with general seasonal trends”
Deck Q3 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 10 ·
Credit improvement
“Continued strength in delinquency and net charge-off performance; continue to expect relative stability and will follow normal seasonality patterns with losses peaking in 2Q’26”
Deck Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 10 ·
Credit improvement
“Continued strength in delinquency and net charge-off performance; continue to expect relative stability and should follow normal seasonality patterns”
Deck Q2 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 10 ·
Consistency through the cycle
“Delivering Consistent Returns Over Time”
Deck Q4 2024 Earnings Presentation · p. 4 ·
Consistency through the cycle
“Delivering consistent execution through environments”
Deck Q1 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Consistency through the cycle
“Delivering consistent execution through environments”
Deck Q2 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Consistency through the cycle
“Delivering consistent execution through environments”
Deck Q3 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Consistency through the cycle
“Delivering consistent returns over time”
Deck Q4 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 4 ·
Consistency through the cycle
“Delivering consistent execution through environments”
Deck Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Consistency through the cycle
“Delivering consistent execution through environments”
Deck Q2 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
New and renewed partnerships
“New and renewed partnerships”
Deck Q1 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
New and renewed partnerships
“New physical PayPal Credit Card powered by Synchrony meets growing demand of customers looking to take PayPal”
Deck Q2 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
New and renewed partnerships
“Acquisition of a leading multi-source financing platform that connects a full credit spectrum of consumers across the furniture, home improvement, automotive, jewelry and elective medical industries”
Deck Q3 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
New and renewed partnerships
“Grow & win new partners”
Deck Q4 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
New and renewed partnerships
“New & renewed partnerships 69mm average active accounts $43bn purchase volume $100bn loan receivables2”
Deck Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
New and renewed partnerships
“New & renewed partnerships 68mm average active accounts $50bn purchase volume $102bn loan receivables2”
Deck Q2 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Co-branded card growth
“Dual Card / Co-Brand1: $27.8bn, +6%”
Deck Q1 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 4 ·
Co-branded card growth
“Dual Card / Co-Brand1: $28.3bn, +6%”
Deck Q2 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 4 ·
Co-branded card growth
“Dual Card / Co-Brand1: $30.6bn, +13%”
Deck Q3 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 4 ·
Co-branded card growth
“Dual Card / Co-Brand1: $34.9bn, +20%”
Deck Q4 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 5 ·
Co-branded card growth
“Co-Branded Cards1: $33.9bn, +22%”
Deck Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 4 ·
Co-branded card growth
“Co-Branded cards1: $35.7bn, +25%”
Deck Q2 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 4 ·
Growth investments (Walmart/OnePay, Lowe's, Versatile Credit)
“Walmart/OnePay launch during Fall 2025”
Deck Q2 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 10 ·
Growth investments (Walmart/OnePay, Lowe's, Versatile Credit)
“Walmart/OnePay launched during September 2025”
Deck Q3 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 10 ·
Growth investments (Walmart/OnePay, Lowe's, Versatile Credit)
“Includes significant investment in growth-related initiatives (Walmart/OnePay, Lowes commercial co-brand credit card acquisition, Versatile”
Deck Q4 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 11 ·
Growth investments (Walmart/OnePay, Lowe's, Versatile Credit)
“Receivables growth expected to accelerate through second half of 2026”
Deck Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 10 ·
Capital return
“$300 million share repurchases”
Deck Q3 2024 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Capital return
“$100 million share repurchases”
Deck Q4 2024 Earnings Presentation · p. 5 ·
Capital return
“Board approved incremental share repurchases of $1.0 billion. Total remaining repurchase authorization of $2.1 billion through 2Q'26.”
Deck Q3 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Capital return
“Returning capital to shareholders”
Deck Q1 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Consumer spend trends
“Recognition 2025 Weekly Sales ($bn) 2025 Weekly Sales Generational Mix2”
Deck Q1 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Consumer spend trends
“Fourth consecutive quarter of improvement in Average Transaction”
Deck Q3 2025 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
Consumer spend trends
“Spend trends remained consistent”
Deck Q2 2026 Earnings Presentation · p. 3 ·
What they keep talking about · 11
The themes that show up deck after deck, and the ones that disappear.
- Late fees
- Set the whole 2024 outlook — $7.60-7.80 of EPS if the rule landed on 1 October. From Q4 '24 it is excluded "given the uncertainty regarding the effective date", and after that it appears only as last year's preparatory cost: $49M in 2024, $1M in 2025.
- Price changes
- The cited driver of the loan yield in every deck to Q1 '26, worth 24 to 53 basis points a quarter. In Q2 '26 the yield subtracts 9bps and growth is credited to loans instead.
- Credit
- The one thing guided better than promised, twice — and the one line the decks have never walked down. The Q3 '26 release puts the quarter at 4.79%, a seasonal low.
- Consistency
- "Delivering consistent execution through environments" is the opening slide of every non-Q4 deck since the Q1 '25 redesign; the Q4 decks say "consistent returns over time".
- Partners
- A standing front-page section: new and renewed deals, the physical PayPal card, the Versatile Credit acquisition. The partner names on the slide are logos, so the archived text carries only the heading.
- Co-brand
- The growth line that steps up: +6%, +6%, +13%, +20%, then +22% and +25% after Walmart/OnePay. Renamed from Dual Card / Co-Brand in Q1 '26 and widened to take in commercial cards in Q2.
- Growth spend
- Named only in the outlook slides — Walmart/OnePay, the Lowe's commercial co-brand, Versatile Credit — and Walmart is not named anywhere in the 2026 decks.
- Capital return
- Onto the headline slide with the Q3 '25 authorisation, and the whole of a slide from Q1 '26: $300M of buybacks a quarter became $6.5B open-ended, and Q3 '26 returned $1.2B with $4.6B left.
- Spend
- A different chart each time it appears — weekly sales and generational mix, average transaction values, spend by credit grade.
- New
- Q1 '26: a $6.5B repurchase programme with no stated expiry, a 13% dividend increase, and a single diluted EPS range in place of the revenue and efficiency ranges.
- Quiet
- New accounts and the per-account metrics went after Q4 '24, the FY2025 revenue and efficiency framework went with the year that missed it, and the long-term ROA and ROTCE targets left too — one of which is the rate this page compounds.
Every quarterly report we’ve saved · 9
The press releases and shareholder letters behind this page.
- Q3 2026 release · 8-K 20 Oct 2026
- Q2 2026 release · 8-K 21 Jul 2026
- Q1 2026 release · 8-K 21 Apr 2026
- Q4 2025 release · 8-K 27 Jan 2026
- Q3 2025 release · 8-K 15 Oct 2025
- Q2 2025 release · 8-K 22 Jul 2025
- Q1 2025 release · 8-K 22 Apr 2025
- Q4 2024 release · 8-K 28 Jan 2025
- Q3 2024 release · 8-K 16 Oct 2024
Archived as text; the links open the copies filed on EDGAR or the investor-relations site.
What analysts asked them
7 calls · Q3 24 – Q1 26The last eight earnings calls: what analysts kept asking about, which questions got dodged, and how much the CEO did the talking.
Share of questions by topic, call by call. A topic that suddenly dominates is usually the problem. The last row is how much of the answering the CEO did, rather than the CFO or others.
| Share of questions about… | Q3 24 | Q4 24 | Q1 25 | Q2 25 | Q3 25 | Q4 25 | Q1 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demand & customers | 3% | 3% | 3% | 12% | 17% | 7% | 9% |
| Growth & sales | 10% | 28% | 33% | 41% | 17% | 40% | 64% |
| Pricing & margins | 7% | · | · | 6% | · | 7% | 18% |
| Guidance & outlook | 31% | 28% | 12% | 35% | 17% | 27% | 64% |
| Capital & financing | 3% | 6% | 12% | 12% | 11% | 7% | 55% |
| Competition | 7% | 3% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 3% | · |
| Products & technology | 3% | · | · | 35% | 17% | 10% | 9% |
| Macro & regulation | 7% | 6% | 12% | 6% | 11% | · | · |
| Other | 45% | 56% | 48% | 24% | 39% | 40% | 9% |
| Questions | 29 | 36 | 33 | 17 | 18 | 30 | 11 |
| How much the CEO talked | 15% | 61% | 41% | 45% | 34% | 30% | 18% |
Who’s in charge, who’s selling
read from the filings · 25 Oct 2026Shareholder votes against the board and pay, plus which executives have been selling their own shares.
Tier 2 · stable
Pay is measured on the two numbers the buyback lifts, and the last award paid 177% of target
Performance shares are 55% of the long-term mix and 81% of the chief executive's target pay is long-term equity. The 2023-25 award was measured half on cumulative diluted EPS, which came in at $22.43 against a maximum of $21, and half on return on equity, 19.7% against a maximum of 20.0% — 147.7% weighted, multiplied by a 120% total-shareholder-return factor for an 89th-percentile return, for a 177.2% payout. Over the same period the share count fell 44%. Chief-executive pay was $21,401,619 for 2025, 337 times the median employee's $63,465, and private aircraft were mandated for her predecessor's successor's business and personal travel from late 2024.
Tier 2 · worsening
Reserve releases supplied a tenth of the profit, and a presentation change moved $1.1bn of tangible book
Releases were $439m, 9.5% of 2025 pre-tax earnings, and $163m, 13.7% of Q2 '26's, while allowance coverage fell from 10.59% to 10.09% of receivables on a book that is 26% sub-650. Separately the Q2 '26 change in the presentation of internal-use capitalised software restated Q1 '26 tangible common equity from $12,669m to $13,792m and added about 80bp of CET1 — the capital number that decides how much stock can be bought back.
Tier 3 · stable
Thirty-three insider sales, no purchases in a year
The SEC data sets record 33 sales by 11 insiders for $48,886,029 over the year to Q2 '26, zero purchases, and a pre-planned share of 1.0 — every sale on a plan set in advance. Net selling is about 0.21% of market value, the highest of the four lenders covered here. The chief executive sold 217,554 shares on 2026-03-02 for about $14.9m, holding 829,222 after, and an independent parse of 159 Form 4s found no open-market purchase at the issuer in 365 days.
Tier 3 · stable
The operating chief's job was broken up rather than refilled
On 2026-06-29 Carol Juel moved from chief technology and operating officer to run the Digital platform, succeeding Bart Schaller, who is retiring. The filing states the company "will not designate a single executive to assume Ms. Juel's former responsibilities" and will distribute them instead: technology to a newly promoted chief technology officer, operations — servicing, collections and customer care — to the chief human resources officer. Technology integration with each partner is what this company sells.
Tier 3 · improving
The board answered its owners
In 2025, 45,169,733 votes — 14.1% — went against Fernando Aguirre, who chairs the nominating and governance committee, against 0.4% for the chief executive; say-on-pay drew 9.4% against. Deborah Ellinger joined as the twelfth director later that year. In 2026 Aguirre's dissent was 2.2%, Richie's 1.4%, Parker's 1.1% and say-on-pay 6.5%. Nothing filed connects the two, so the link is arithmetic rather than disclosure — but the direction is the opposite of Citigroup's over the same two meetings.
Where shareholders voted no
At each annual meeting shareholders vote on who sits on the board, what the executives are paid and whether the company may create more shares. These are the votes that drew the most "no"s at the last two meetings: the shares voted against (or withheld) each year, then what share of all votes cast that was. Under each one, what the vote was about and what a no means.
| 2025 | 2026 | Share 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aguirre (chairs nomination and governance)A board seat. Shareholders vote to keep this person on the board, the group that hires, pays and can fire the CEO. A no, or a withheld vote, says they want this director out, often because of the committee they sit on or a decision they signed off. | 45.2M against | 6.5M against | 2.2% |
| Say on pay (advisory)Executive pay. Shareholders say whether they accept what the top executives were paid. The vote is advisory: the board can ignore it, but a large no is a public rebuke and boards usually change the pay plan after one. | 29.8M against | 18.9M against | 6.5% |
| Richie (chairs pay)A board seat. | 16.4M against | 4.2M against | 1.4% |
| Naylor (non-executive chair)A board seat. | 10.7M against | 6.6M against | 2.2% |
| Doubles (President and CEO)A board seat. | 1.2M against | 1.0M against | 0.3% |
| Ratify KPMGThe auditor. Keeping the outside accounting firm that checks the company's books. This almost always passes; a sizeable no means shareholders doubt the audit or think the firm has been in place too long. | 6.0M against | 4.9M against | 1.6% |
Insiders who sold the most stock
Reported sales by executives and directors, biggest first.
| SEC insider data sets, Jul '25-Jun '26 | Sold | Note |
|---|---|---|
| All insiders | $48.9M | 33 sales by 11 people, and not one purchase |
| Of that, pre-planned | all of it | every sale under a pre-set 10b5-1 plan |
| Brian Doubles, chief executive | about $14.9M | 217,554 shares on 2026-03-02; 829,222 held after |