Regional banking company KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) reported Q1 CY2026 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 10.2% year on year to $1.95 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.44 per share was 8% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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KeyCorp (KEY) Q1 CY2026 Highlights:
- Net Interest Income: $1.22 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.22 billion (11.5% year-on-year growth, in line)
- Net Interest Margin: 2.9% vs analyst estimates of 2.9% (2.7 basis point miss)
- Revenue: $1.95 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.94 billion (10.2% year-on-year growth, 0.7% beat)
- Efficiency Ratio: 60.4% vs analyst estimates of 61.9% (154.8 basis point beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $0.44 vs analyst estimates of $0.41 (8% beat)
- Tangible Book Value per Share: $13.60 vs analyst estimates of $13.82 (10.2% year-on-year growth, 1.6% miss)
- Market Capitalization: $23.14 billion
Company Overview
Tracing its roots back to 1849 during the California Gold Rush era, KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) operates KeyBank, a full-service regional bank providing retail and commercial banking, wealth management, and investment services across 15 states.
Sales Growth
From lending activities to service fees, most banks build their revenue model around two income sources. Interest rate spreads between loans and deposits create the first stream, with the second coming from charges on everything from basic bank accounts to complex investment banking transactions. Regrettably, KeyCorp’s revenue grew at a weak 1.9% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years. This was below our standards and is a rough 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. KeyCorp’s annualized revenue growth of 11.1% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting some bright spots. 
Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.
This quarter, KeyCorp reported year-on-year revenue growth of 10.2%, and its $1.95 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 0.7%.
Net interest income made up 60.1% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning lending operations are KeyCorp’s largest source of revenue.
Net interest income commands greater market attention due to its reliability and consistency, whereas non-interest income is often seen as lower-quality revenue that lacks the same dependable characteristics.
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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. EPS can become murky due to acquisition impacts or accounting flexibility around loan provisions, and TBVPS resists financial engineering manipulation.
KeyCorp’s TBVPS was flat over the last five years. However, TBVPS growth has accelerated recently, growing by 17.8% annually over the last two years from $9.81 to $13.60 per share.
Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for KeyCorp’s TBVPS to grow by 9.3% to $14.86, paltry growth rate.
Key Takeaways from KeyCorp’s Q1 Results
It was good to see KeyCorp beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. We were also happy its revenue narrowly outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its tangible book value per share missed. Zooming out, we think this was a mixed quarter. Investors were likely hoping for more, and shares traded down 1.7% to $21.21 immediately following the results.
Is KeyCorp an attractive investment opportunity at the current price? What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
