Synchrony Financial CEO Touts Resilience, But Lowered Outlook Spooks Investors
Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) announced its second-quarter fiscal 2025 results on Tuesday, reporting mixed financial performance. While the company exceeded analyst expectations for both total revenue and earnings per share, key operational metrics saw a decline.
Synchrony’s total revenue or net interest income for the second quarter increased by 2.6% year-over-year to $4.52 billion, surpassing the consensus analyst estimate of $4.51 billion.
Despite this growth in total revenue, net revenue decreased by 1.8% year-over-year to $3.65 billion. The company’s net interest margin, a key indicator of profitability in lending, improved by 32 basis points to 14.78% during the quarter.
However, several other financial indicators showed contraction. Period-end loan receivables declined 2% year-over-year to $99.8 billion, and purchase volume also decreased by 2% year-over-year, reaching $46.1 billion.
The average number of active accounts declined by 4% year-over-year to 68.1 million, and deposits fell by 1.0% year-over-year to $82.3 billion.
Despite these declines, interest and fees on loans saw a 1% year-over-year increase, reaching $5.3 billion. This growth was primarily driven by an increase in loan receivables yield, which reflected the impact of product, pricing, and policy changes (PPPCs). These positive effects were partially offset by lower benchmark interest rates and a reduced incidence of late fees.
Synchrony’s profitability significantly improved, with net earnings surging 50% year-over-year to $967 million. This translated to diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.50, comfortably beating the analyst consensus estimate of $1.64.
A major factor contributing to this increase was a decrease in the provision for credit losses, which fell by $545 million to $1.1 billion. This reduction was primarily due to a reserve release of $265 million in the current quarter, compared to a reserve build of $70 million in the same period last year and a net charge-off decrease of $210 million.
The company also demonstrated improved operational efficiency and capital strength. Synchrony’s return on assets increased by 100 basis points to 3.2%, and its efficiency ratio improved by 240 basis points to 34.1%.
Furthermore, the estimated Common Equity Tier 1 ratio, a measure of a bank’s core capital, rose to 13.6% from 12.6% in the prior year, and the estimated Tier 1 Capital ratio improved to 14.8% from 13.8% in the previous year.
Synchrony returned $614 million in capital to shareholders during the quarter, comprising $500 million in share repurchases and $114 million in common stock dividends.
Synchrony’s CEO, Brian Doubles, highlighted the company’s resilience during the second quarter, attributing it to a diversified portfolio, strong value propositions, and extensive distribution channels that cater to a broad customer base, from individuals to small and medium-sized businesses and major national brands.
Doubles emphasized the company’s strategic advancements, including expanding its partner base, introducing new products, diversifying its offerings, and enhancing customer experiences.
Notably, Synchrony strengthened its position as a leading industry partner by launching new products with two of its top five partners, renewing another key relationship, and announcing a new partnership with a former top-five client, as reported earlier when Synchrony teamed up with OnePay and Walmart to launch a new credit card program.
FY25 Outlook
Looking ahead, Synchrony revised its full fiscal year 2025 revenue guidance downward to $15.0 billion to $15.3 billion, compared to the prior estimate of $15.2 billion to $15.7 billion. This updated outlook is below the analyst consensus estimate of $18.54 billion.
Price Action: Following the earnings report, SYF shares were trading lower in premarket, down 1.35% at $68.50 as of last check Tuesday.
Read Next:
Image via Shutterstock
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Posted-In: why it's movingEarnings News Guidance Top Stories Movers
