SCHW · Q3 2025 Earnings

Bullish

Charles Schwab Corporation

Reported October 16, 2025

30-second summary

Schwab posted Q3 FY2025 revenue of $6.14B (+27% YoY) and adjusted EPS of $1.31, with net interest revenue up 37% and bank deposit account fees up 63% as the post-Ameritrade deleveraging continues to convert into NIM. Q3 NIM of 2.86% reached the Q4 target zone ("well into the 280s bps") one quarter early; YTD NIM of 2.68% sits inside the FY guide range of 2.65–2.75%. Core NNA of $137.5B (+44% YoY) suggests the "playing offense" narrative is intensifying, not normalizing. Management chose not to refresh FY2025 numeric guidance — a deliberate posture given Q3 actuals are running visibly hot against the prior framework.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q3 FY2025

$1.31

Revenue

Q3 FY2025

$6.13B

+27.0% YoY

Operating margin

Q3 FY2025

49.2%

Key financials

Q3 FY2025

Metric	Q3 FY2025	YoY	Q2 FY2025	QoQ
Revenue	$6.13B	+27.0%	$5.85B	+4.9%
EPS	$1.31	—	$1.14	+14.9%
Operating margin	49.2%	—	47.9%	+130bps

Guidance

No updated FY2025 guidance issued this quarter; company reaffirms prior full-year outlook while Q3 actuals (revenue +27% YoY, NIM 2.86%) run ahead of the prior guidance ranges, signaling potential upside delivery.

Guidance is issued for the full year only, refreshed each quarter. Prior and new below are the same FY updated this quarter.

Changes to prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	New guide	Δ	Result
Revenue	FY2025	$25.185B - $25.935B	—	No current FY2025 guidance issued; prior guide remains in effect	Raised
Adjusted EPS	FY2025	$4.55 - $4.65	—	No current FY2025 guidance issued; prior guide remains in effect	Raised
Net Interest Margin	FY2025	2.65% - 2.75%	—	No current FY2025 guidance issued; prior guide remains in effect	Raised
Expense Growth	FY2025	4.75% - 5.25%	—	No current FY2025 guidance issued; prior guide remains in effect	Raised

Segment performance

Q3 FY2025

Segment	Q3 FY2025	YoY
Net Interest Revenue	$3.05B	+37.2%
Asset Management and Administration Fees	$1.673B	+13.3%
Trading Revenue	$0.995B	+25.0%
Bank Deposit Account Fees	$0.247B	+62.5%

Capital & returns

Q3 FY2025

Segment	Q3 FY2025
Return on Average Common Stockholders' Equity (Annualized)	21%
Return on Tangible Common Equity (Annualized)	38%

Other KPIs

Q3 FY2025

Segment	Q3 FY2025
Core Net New Assets	$137.5B
Total Client Assets	$11.59T
Active Brokerage Accounts	38.0M
New Brokerage Account Openings	1.143M
Daily Average Trading Volume	7.4M
Net Interest Margin	2.86%

Management tone

Tone analysis is press-release-only this quarter; no transcript was available. The following is inferred from the press release qualitative statements and YoY comparison to Q2's transcript posture.

Narrative arc: Q1 cash sort hangover → Q2 "playing offense" pivot → Q3 FY2025 record revenue + EPS + ROTCE, guidance left untouched on the upside.

The Q2 call introduced "playing offense" and telegraphed an undisclosed monetization opportunity. Q3's press release does not surface that opportunity numerically, but the operational evidence — $137.5B NNA, 38% ROTCE, Q3 NIM at 2.86% reaching the Q4 target zone one quarter early — does the talking. Management's choice of phrasing ("record revenue and earnings per share," "strengthening organic growth trends, increasing adoption of wealth solutions, and favorable macroeconomic tailwinds") suggests confidence rather than caution, but the absence of a guidance raise alongside actuals running visibly above multiple FY ranges is the more interesting signal. Either management is reserving the upside reveal for Q4 / 2026 framework, or they are unwilling to anchor the run-rate at Q3 levels until the funding-mix glide path proves durable.

The deposit-mix narrative shifted from "glide path" framing in Q2 to active execution in Q3: $12.9B of high-cost bank funding paid down in a single quarter is a faster pace than Q2's "each quarter" language implied. NIM at 2.86% — already at the Q2-articulated Q4 expectation of "well into the 280s bps" — suggests funding-cost normalization is happening faster than the prior model assumed.

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Quantification of the undisclosed "meaningful revenue opportunity." No explicit sizing in the Q3 FY2025 press release. The opportunity was telegraphed in Q2 prepared remarks; without transcript access this quarter, it's unclear whether management addressed it on the Q3 call.

Continue monitoring

Bitcoin and Ethereum spot trading launch timing and economics. Not addressed in the press release.

Continue monitoring

Core NNA sustainability and pace holding. Decisively resolved: Q3 FY2025 core NNA of $137.5B grew 44% YoY, the headline organic-growth metric in the release. On a sequential basis, that compares with Q2 core NNA of ~$80.3B (vs Q2 total NNA of $73.6B — core and total differ because of off-platform CD outflows). The "playing offense" narrative is intensifying, not normalizing.

Resolved positively

Q4 NIM landing "well into the 280s bps." Effectively pre-resolved one quarter early: Q3 NIM already at 2.86%, at the level Q2 management framed as a Q4 target; YTD NIM of 2.68% sits inside the FY range of 2.65–2.75%.

Resolved positively

Pace of bank supplemental borrowing paydown. Accelerated rather than slowed: $12.9B paid down to $14.8B at quarter-end, faster than Q2's glide-path framing implied.

Resolved positively

Sustainability of legacy Ameritrade client NNA growth. Not separately disclosed in the Q3 FY2025 press release, though aggregate core NNA of $137.5B (+44% YoY) strongly implies the legacy Ameritrade cohort continued contributing outsized growth.

Continue monitoring

What to watch into next quarter

Whether Q4 brings a refreshed FY2025 (or initial 2026) numeric framework. Q3 NIM at 2.86% reached the Q4 target zone one quarter early; leaving guidance stale through Q4 would be a deliberate choice to preserve 2026 reveal optionality.

Whether core NNA sustains above $100B or reverts toward the Q2 ~$80B run-rate. $137.5B is the step-function print to watch — a Q4 reversion below $90B would frame Q3 as seasonal/episodic; a sustained $100B+ would force a re-rating of the organic growth algorithm.

Pace of bank supplemental borrowing paydown from the $14.8B quarter-end balance. Approaching the "long-term diversified funding profile" floor management referenced in Q2 means the NIM tailwind from deleveraging starts compressing in 2026.

Whether Q4 brings any quantification of the Q2-telegraphed "meaningful revenue opportunity" or Bitcoin/Ethereum spot trading economics. Year-end is the deadline management implicitly set; silence into 2026 would suggest the opportunity is smaller than Q2 framing implied.

Trading revenue trajectory if DATV continues softening from Q2's 7.6M. Q3's 7.4M is still well above 4Q24 but the QoQ direction matters for the FY DATV framework.

Sources

Charles Schwab Q3 FY2025 press release (Exhibit 99.1, SEC filing): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/316709/000031670925000046/a3q25exhibit991.htm
Charles Schwab Q2 FY2025 press release and prepared remarks (prior FY2025 guidance framework reference).

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