SYF US S&P 500Russell 1000 Earnings call · transcribed from the recording
Synchrony Financial (SYF) · Q3 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $72.02 · 2026-11-11
Synchrony Financial is a consumer financial services company based in the United States. It provides credit, promotional financing, loyalty programs, and installment lending to consumers and businesses through its subsidiary bank. Source: Wikipedia
Results Q3 2026 vs Q2 2026 · previous quarter · published 20 Oct 2026 and 21 Jul 2026
Management sounded restrained, in its script and in answers to analysts.
1 · Numbers
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No financial figures for this pair
Outlook given
2 · How management spoke
Restrained
Less upbeat than 71% of company calls
Answers to analysts: restrained, in line with the script.
Similar to last call.
3 · What stood out
Synchrony Financial raised its full-year diluted earnings per share guidance to approximately $9.50, which represents the high end of its original expectations.
Valuation
Is Synchrony Financial undervalued?
Reverse DCF on net income from the last full fiscal year (no meaningful free cash flow: a bank, insurer or a year of negative cash flow) (2025-12-31), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 10.0% growth a year (the standard assumption), the model's fair value is $242.63 a share — the stock trades 70% below it. Today's price assumes −7.5% growth a year.
Current price
$72.02
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
-7.5% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$242.63
Buy below
$181.98
Price vs fair value
Undervalued 70%
Price vs buy-below price
Undervalued 60%
Management expects
Growth +5.5% · from the Q3 2026 report: “SYF expects year-end loan receivables to grow by mid-single digits, net interest income to increase, and net charge-offs to stay below 5.5% while following…”
A guidance figure for growth, usually one year ahead, not a 10-year free-cash-flow rate.
Read between the lines
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Guidance
SYF raised its full-year diluted earnings per share guidance to approximately $9.50, which represents the high end of its original expectations.
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Guidance
SYF expects year-end loan receivables to grow by mid-single digits, net interest income to increase, and net charge-offs to stay below 5.5% while following normal seasonality.
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Figure
Net interest income increased 2% to $4.8 billion due to higher interest and fees and lower interest expense, partially offset by lower investment income.
Source quote
“Net interest income increased 2% to $4.8 billion, dollars, primarily driven by the combination of higher interest and fees and lower interest expense, partially offset by lower investment income.”
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Guidance
RSAs will be higher for the full year but remain within a long-term target range of 4% to 4.5% of average receivables.
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Figure
The net charge-off rate decreased by 37 basis points to 4.79% from 5.16% in the prior year.
Source quote
“Our net charge-off rate was 4.79%, reflecting a decrease of 37 basis points from 5.16% in the prior year.”
4 more
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Figure
Total purchase volume reached nearly $50 billion this quarter, marking the highest third quarter level in history and an 8% increase compared to last year.
Source quote
“Total purchase volume reached nearly $50 billion again this quarter, the highest third quarter level in our history, and an increase of 8% compared to last year.”
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Figure
SYF generated net earnings of $892 million, or $2.68 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2026.
Source quote
“More specifically, we generated net earnings of $892 million, or $2.68 per diluted share.”
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Figure
Synchrony returned $1.2 billion to shareholders in the third quarter, consisting of $1.1 billion in share purchases and $110 million in common stock dividends.
Source quote
“Synchrony returned $1.2 billion to shareholders during the third quarter, which included $1.1 billion in share purchases and $110 million in common stock dividends.”
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Key theme
The significant growth across the younger age demographics has been enabled by Synchrony Financial's proprietary underwriting and data analytics platform, PRISM.
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q3 2026. Ring: Q2 2026.
Script and answers carried a similar tone, so the script's message held up under questioning.
Sentences that drove the tone
“And our allowance for credit losses as a percent of loan receivables was 10.01%, a decrease of approximately eight basis points from 10.09% in the second quarter, and a decrease...”
“Ending loan receivables growth continued to accelerate while credit performance remained strong, resulting in attractive returns for our shareholders.”
“One, the decline in earned income reversals as net charge loss decreased from the seasonal high in the second quarter to the seasonal low in the third quarter.”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-06-30)
| Metric | Q3 2026not yet filed | Q2 2026period end 2026-06-30 | Change | Q3 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating income | — | 1.19B | 1.43B | ||
| Net income | — | 885.0M | 1.08B | ||
| EPS | — | 2.59 | 2.86 | ||
| P/E today 7.7 | — | 7.8 | — | 7.8 | — |
Topics
Most discussed now
- Meanwhile, digital platform sales grew 5%, driven by strong customer engagement across partners with broad diversified offerings and…
- Ending loan receivables increased 3% to $103 billion as higher purchase volume more than offset ongoing effects of elevated payment...
- The payment rate of 16.9% was approximately 60 basis points higher than last year and approximately 180 basis points above...
- Its products and experiences resonate across generations and spend categories amid a dynamic consumer landscape because Synchrony Financial…
- Synchrony Financial need to make sure that as that purchasing path changes, that its products are embedded in that experience.
Faded since Q2 2026
- Nothing dropped away.
Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first. Summaries are generated from each filing and its attachment; every figure is checked against the source.
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
As of September 30, 2026, the company reported a 4.3% 30+ delinquency rate and an adjusted net charge-off rate of 4.6%.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
The filing provides the third-quarter 2026 financial results for Synchrony Financial, comparing performance against the third quarter of 2025.
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
Synchrony Financial filed a Regulation FD disclosure providing monthly charge-off and delinquency statistics for the thirteen months ended August 31, 2026.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
Synchrony Financial reported period-end loan receivables of $102.6 billion as of July 31, 2026, compared to $100.3 billion on July 31, 2025.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
The company filed a registration statement for the issuance of 5.450% fixed-to-floating rate senior notes due 2030 and 6.276% fixed-to-floating rate senior notes due 2037.
- Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
Synchrony Financial filed a Regulation FD disclosure providing monthly charge-off and delinquency statistics for the thirteen months ended June 30, 2026.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
The filing provides the second quarter 2026 financial results for Synchrony Financial, with comparisons to the second quarter of 2025.
- Director or officer change; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
The company filed a Form 8-K on June 29, 2026, regarding a director or officer change and a Regulation FD disclosure.
Balance sheet & ownership
From SEC filings; short interest is FINRA data via Yahoo. Collected 2026-10-27.
Cash & runway
Cash & equivalents
$15.90B
2026-09-30
Implied runway
—
operating cash flow positive over the TTM window
Dilution
weighted-average basic shares, per quarter. Change: -12.8% YoY, -3.7% QoQ.
| Quarter | Shares |
|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | 385.2M |
| Q2 2025 | 376.2M |
| Q3 2025 | 365.9M |
| Q1 2026 | 342.4M |
| Q2 2026 | 331.3M |
| Q3 2026 | 319.0M |
Shares outstanding: 311.4M (2026-10-16)
Insider transactions
Form 4 open-market trades (codes S/P), trailing 12 months. Coverage: newest 50 of 160 filings; 50 filings parsed.
Sold by insiders
10.8K shares
$847.3K · 4 transactions
Bought by insiders
0 shares
0 transactions
Net direction
net selling
Catalyst calendar
management-stated targets — from the latest earnings call; plans, not promises.
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the remainder of this year and the years ahead
executing on what we set out to do, extending reach, enhancing experiences, and driving optionality
Source quote
“So as we look to the remainder of this year and the years ahead, Synchrony is executing on what we set out to do.”
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the full year
diluted earnings per share of approximately $9.50
Source quote
“Given the performance of our business through the course of this year, we now expect to deliver approximately $9.50 in diluted earnings per share for the full year, the high end of our original expectations.”
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year-end
loan receivables will grow by in mid-single digits
Source quote
“This reflects our continued full year expectations that year-end loan receivables will grow by in mid-single digits, net interest income will increase, net charge-offs will be less than 5.5%, with delinquency and losses following normal seasonality.”
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the full year
RSAs will be higher but remain within a long-term target range of 4% to 4.5% of average receivables
Source quote
“RSAs will be higher for the full year, but remain within a long-term target range of 4% to 4.5% of average receivables.”
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the fourth quarter
other expense dollars will generally be in line with the third quarter
Source quote
“And other expense dollars in the fourth quarter will generally be in line with the third quarter as we continue investing in synchronous capabilities and future growth opportunities.”