Regional banking company First Horizon (NYSE: FHN) fell short of the market’s revenue expectations in Q3 2026, with sales falling 1.1% year on year to $883 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.53 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.
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First Horizon (FHN) Q3 2026 Highlights:
- Net Interest Income: $683 million vs analyst estimates of $687 million (1.3% year-on-year growth, 0.6% miss)
- Net Interest Margin: 3.5% vs analyst estimates of 3.5% (in line)
- Adjusted Revenue: $883 million vs analyst estimates of $891.4 million (1.1% year-on-year decline, 0.9% miss)
- Adjusted Efficiency Ratio: 58.9% vs analyst estimates of 58.3% (57.5 basis point miss)
- Adjusted EPS: $0.53 vs analyst estimates of $0.52 (in line)
- Adjusted Tangible Book Value per Share: $13.84 vs analyst estimates of $14.62 (flat year on year, 5.3% miss)
- Market Capitalization: $10.74 billion
Company Overview
Tracing its roots back to 1864 during the Civil War era, First Horizon (NYSE: FHN) is a Tennessee-based bank holding company that provides commercial and consumer banking, wealth management, and specialty financial services across multiple states.
Sales Growth
Net interest income and fee-based revenue are the two pillars supporting bank earnings. The former captures profit from the gap between lending rates and deposit costs, while the latter encompasses charges for banking services, credit products, wealth management, and trading activities. Regrettably, First Horizon’s revenue grew at a sluggish 2.2% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This was below our standards and is a tough starting point for our analysis.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. First Horizon’s annualized revenue growth of 3.8% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, which is encouraging. 
Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers because they were impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.
This quarter, First Horizon missed Wall Street’s estimates and reported a rather uninspiring 1.1% year-on-year revenue decline, generating $883 million of revenue.
Net interest income made up 76% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning lending operations are First Horizon’s largest source of revenue.
Our experience and research show the market cares primarily about a bank’s net interest income growth as non-interest income is considered a lower-quality and non-recurring revenue source.
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Tangible Book Value Per Share (TBVPS)
The balance sheet drives banking profitability since earnings flow from the spread between borrowing and lending rates. As such, valuations for these companies concentrate on capital strength and sustainable equity accumulation potential.
This is why we consider tangible book value per share (TBVPS) the most important metric to track for banks. TBVPS represents the real, liquid net worth per share of a bank, excluding intangible assets that have debatable value upon liquidation. On the other hand, EPS is often distorted by mergers and flexible loan loss accounting. TBVPS provides clearer performance insights.
First Horizon’s TBVPS grew at a mediocre 4.9% annual clip over the last five years. TBVPS growth has also recently decelerated a bit to 3.1% annual growth over the last two years (from $13.02 to $13.84 per share).
Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for First Horizon’s TBVPS to grow by 13.2% to $15.66, decent growth rate.
Key Takeaways from First Horizon’s Q3 Results
We struggled to find many positives in these results. Its tangible book value per share and revenue missed Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, this was a weaker quarter. The stock traded down 2.4% to $22.11 immediately after reporting.
First Horizon didn’t show its best hand this quarter, but does that create an opportunity to buy the stock right now? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
