Charles Schwab (SCHW) — Company Research

Last Updated: 8 November 2026

The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) runs one of the largest US brokerage, wealth management and custody businesses, serving individual investors and independent investment advisers, with a bank attached that earns interest on client cash. In 2025 net revenues rose 22.0% to a record $23,921m, net income was $8,852m and diluted EPS was $4.65 ($4.87 adjusted). On 15 Oct 2026 Schwab reported record Q3 2026 net revenues of $7,171m (+17%), adjusted EPS of $1.69 (+29%), record core net new assets of $190.4bn and client assets of $13.33tn. Schwab bought back $3.9bn of shares in the first nine months of 2026, raised its dividend 19% and has added spot crypto trading and private-markets access through Forge Global. Every figure here comes from Schwab's own releases and SEC filings.

1. Company Snapshot

Field	Value
Company	The Charles Schwab Corporation
Ticker / Exchange	SCHW / NYSE
Sector	Financials (brokerage, wealth management, adviser custody and banking)
CEO / Leadership	Rick Wurster (President & CEO since Jan 2025); Mike Verdeschi (CFO); Charles R. Schwab and Walt Bettinger (Co-Chairmen)
Employees	About 33,900 full-time equivalents in Q3 2026; about 33,000 at 31 Dec 2025 (FY2025 10-K)
Headquarters	Westlake, Texas
Fiscal year end	31 December
Revenue (FY2025)	$23,921m net revenues (+22.0%); trailing four quarters to 30 Sep 2026 $27,061m
Net income (FY2025)	$8,852m; diluted EPS $4.65
Market cap	~$157.9bn ($91.49 close on 06 Nov 2026 × 1,726.0m shares outstanding at 30 Oct 2026)
Client assets	$13.33tn at 30 Sep 2026 (+15% year on year); 40.26m active brokerage accounts
Dividend	$0.32 per quarter ($1.28 annualised), raised 19% from $0.27 in Jan 2026

2. Investment Thesis: Bull vs Bear

Bull Case

• Record asset gathering: Core net new assets were a record $190.4bn in Q3 2026 (+38%, a 5.8% annualised growth rate), and Schwab opened 3.9m new brokerage accounts in the first nine months of 2026.
• Strong earnings growth: Q3 2026 adjusted EPS rose 29% to $1.69 on record net revenues of $7,171m, with an adjusted pre-tax margin of 54.8% and return on equity of 25%.
• Large capital return: Schwab bought back 40.2m shares for $3.9bn in the first nine months of 2026, with $10.6bn left on its $20bn authorisation, and raised the dividend 19%.
• Cheaper funding: The average cost of bank deposits fell to 0.23% in Q3 2026 from 0.43% a year earlier, and net interest margin rose to 3.04%.
• Wider product range: Spot bitcoin and ether trading, Forge Global's private-markets platform, single stock futures and new AI tools add revenue sources beyond interest on cash.

Bear Case

• Securities losses: Held-to-maturity securities carried $13,410m of gross unrealised losses at 30 Sep 2026, up from $9,646m at the end of 2025, and accumulated other comprehensive loss was $11.2bn.
• Bank deposits shrinking: Bank deposits fell from $255.7bn at the end of 2025 to $244.1bn at 30 Sep 2026, and balances swept to TD Bank fell 13% year on year to $68.0bn.
• Rate sensitivity: Net interest revenue was 49% of 2025 revenue, so lower rates or clients moving cash into higher-yielding products can cut earnings.
• Founder selling: Co-Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold about 214,800 shares worth about $19.1m between 28 Oct and 03 Nov 2026, after further sales in August, and no open-market purchases were found.

3. Business Segments

Schwab reports two segments. Figures are FY2025 net revenues from the FY2025 10-K.

Segment	% of revenue	What it is
Investor Services	79.4% ($18,999m)	Brokerage, banking, wealth management and trading services for individual investors, plus retirement plan and workplace services. Pre-tax income $9,321m; client assets $7.49tn at 30 Sep 2026.
Advisor Services	20.6% ($4,922m)	Custody, trading, banking and support services for independent registered investment advisers (RIAs) and their clients. Pre-tax income $2,138m; client assets $5.85tn at 30 Sep 2026.

By revenue type, FY2025 net revenues were net interest revenue $11,750m (49.1%), asset management and administration fees $6,506m (27.2%), trading revenue $3,921m (16.4%), bank deposit account fees $977m (4.1%) and other $767m (3.2%).

4. Business Model & Moat

How it makes money. About half of revenue is net interest revenue, earned mainly by investing client cash swept into Schwab Bank and lending against securities (margin loans were $187.9bn at 30 Sep 2026). The rest comes from fees on Schwab funds, ETFs and managed accounts, trading revenue (including payment for order flow and options), and fees from cash swept to TD Bank.

Scale and low cost. With $13.33tn of client assets and 48.6m client accounts, Schwab spreads technology and service costs over a very large base, giving an adjusted pre-tax margin of 54.8% in Q3 2026.

Adviser network. Advisor Services held $5.85tn of client assets for independent advisers at 30 Sep 2026. Advisers move whole books of clients and rarely switch custodians, which makes these assets sticky.

Where the moat is tested. Zero-commission trading means the business depends on interest on client cash, which falls when rates drop or when clients move cash into money market funds. Fintech brokers and other custodians compete hard on price and features.

5. Financial Health

Annual figures come from Schwab's fourth-quarter earnings releases and 10-K filings, cross-checked against SEC XBRL data. Revenue is total net revenues. Long-term debt is the year-end balance.

Fiscal Year	Revenue ($m)	YoY %	GAAP EPS	Adjusted EPS	Dividend/share	Long-term debt (YE)
FY2021	$18,520m	+58.4%†	$2.83	$3.25	$0.72	$18,914m
FY2022	$20,762m	+12.1%	$3.50	$3.90	$0.84	$20,828m
FY2023	$18,837m	−9.3%	$2.54	$3.13	$1.00	$26,128m
FY2024	$19,606m	+4.1%	$2.99	$3.25	$1.00	$22,428m
FY2025	$23,921m	+22.0%	$4.65	$4.87	$1.08	$22,199m

† FY2021 growth is against FY2020 net revenues of $11,691m and includes a full year of TD Ameritrade, acquired in Oct 2020. Adjusted EPS excludes acquisition and integration costs and amortisation of acquired intangibles, as defined by Schwab.

Quarterly results, most recent first.

Quarter / Half	Revenue	Adjusted EPS	GAAP EPS
Q3 2026 (to 30 Sep 2026)	$7,171m	$1.69	$1.62
Q2 2026 (to 30 Jun 2026)	$7,072m	$1.62	$1.54
Q1 2026 (to 31 Mar 2026)	$6,482m	$1.43	$1.37
Q4 2025 (to 31 Dec 2025)	$6,336m	$1.39	$1.33
Trailing four quarters total (to 30 Sep 2026)	$27,061m	$6.12	$5.86

The trailing adjusted EPS total uses Schwab's reported nine-month 2026 figure of $4.73 plus Q4 2025; the quarters individually add up to $6.13 because of rounding.

Cash flow and balance sheet. As at most brokers, operating cash flow swings with client and brokerage balances: it was $9,311m in 2025 against $2,670m in 2024. FY2025 capital spending on equipment, office facilities and property was $548m and depreciation and amortisation $850m, plus $512m of amortisation of acquired intangibles. At 30 Sep 2026 Schwab had total assets of about $520.7bn, bank deposits of $244.1bn, cash and cash equivalents of $36,657m and long-term debt of $23,808m. Total stockholders' equity was $51,446m, including $6,213m of preferred stock, and the Tier 1 leverage ratio was 8.9%. Follow the shares on ChartsView Live Charts.

6. Valuation

Raw metrics, November 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.

Metric	Value
Market cap	~$157.9bn ($91.49 close on 06 Nov 2026 × 1,726.0m shares outstanding)
Trailing P/E (GAAP)	~15.6x ($91.49 / GAAP EPS of $5.86 over the four quarters to 30 Sep 2026). On adjusted EPS of $6.12 for the same period the multiple is ~14.9x.
P/E (forward)	n/a — no current Schwab EPS guidance for 2026 or 2027 was found in its releases
P/S (TTM)	~5.8x (~$157.9bn / net revenues of $27,061m over the four quarters to 30 Sep 2026)
Price/book	~3.5x ($91.49 / common book value per share of about $26.21, from common equity of $45,233m at 30 Sep 2026); ~6.1x tangible common book value of about $14.95 a share
Enterprise value	~$145.1bn (market cap ~$157.9bn + long-term debt $23,808m − cash and cash equivalents $36,657m, per 30 Sep 2026 balance sheet). For a broker-bank, debt and cash largely reflect client balances, so EV is of limited use.
EV/EBITDA (TTM)	n/m — Schwab is a savings and loan holding company whose interest expense is an operating cost, so EBITDA is not meaningful; see Price/book instead
P/FCF	~13.5x (market cap ~$157.9bn / FCF ~$11.70bn; FCF = operating cash flow $12,493m − capex $797m over the four quarters to 30 Sep 2026). Operating cash flow swings with client balances, so this multiple moves sharply from year to year.
Dividend yield	~1.4% ($1.28 annualised / $91.49)
52-week high	$114.53 (24 Aug 2026, intraday)
52-week low	$83.96 (28 May 2026, intraday)
Short interest (% of float)	~1.2% (19.15m shares at settlement 30 Sep 2026, Benzinga); 1.19% at 15 Sep 2026
Days to cover	~1.9 (30 Sep 2026, Benzinga)

7. What Are They Building

Crypto. Schwab Crypto, announced on 16 Apr 2026, offers spot bitcoin and ether trading at 75bp per trade; the first clients began trading on 12 May 2026 and Schwab said on 15 Oct 2026 that it plans to add more digital assets.

Private markets. Schwab completed its purchase of Forge Global, a marketplace for shares in private companies, on 02 Mar 2026 at $45 a share, and also runs Schwab Private Issuer Equity Services for private company share plans.

AI tools. On 30 Sep 2026 Schwab launched Charley, an AI assistant for retail clients, rolling out from October. On 14 Sep 2026 it partnered with Anthropic to offer Claude for Financial Advisors to more than 16,000 RIAs on its platform.

Trading. The thinkorswim platform from TD Ameritrade is now offered to all Schwab clients, and single stock futures are being added. Daily average trades were 10.7m in Q3 2026, up 44%.

Wealth and lending. Schwab Wealth Advisory net flows rose 55% year on year in Q3 2026, Pledged Asset Line balances rose 59% to $37.3bn, and bank loans rose 35% to $72.3bn, helped by a co-branded mortgage programme with Rocket Mortgage.

8. Competitive Landscape

Peer	Market cap (November 2026)	Key 2025 metric
Morgan Stanley (MS)	~$283.6bn ($181.44 close on 06 Nov 2026 × 1,563.0m shares)	FY2025 net revenues $70.6bn, of which Wealth Management $31.8bn (Q4 2025 release)
Interactive Brokers (IBKR)	~$132bn (macrotrends, early Nov 2026)	FY2025 total net revenues $6,205m (+20%) (FY2025 10-K)
Robinhood (HOOD)	~$77bn (macrotrends, early Nov 2026)	FY2025 net revenues $4.5bn (+52%) (Q4 2025 release)
Raymond James (RJF)	~$31.3bn ($162.81 close on 06 Nov 2026 × 192.4m shares)	FY2025 (to Sep 2025) net revenues $14.07bn, a record (Q4 FY2025 release)
LPL Financial (LPLA)	~$23.0bn ($295.51 close on 06 Nov 2026 × 77.9m shares)	Advisory and brokerage assets $2.4tn at end-2025 (+36%); FY2025 GAAP EPS $10.92 (Q4 2025 release)

Fidelity, a major competitor in retail brokerage and adviser custody, is privately owned. Schwab's FY2025 net revenues of $23,921m were well below Morgan Stanley's but several times those of Interactive Brokers and Robinhood. Discuss the sector on the ChartsView Forum.

9. Leadership & Insider Activity

Rick Wurster has been President and CEO since Jan 2025, succeeding Walt Bettinger, who is now Co-Chairman alongside founder Charles R. Schwab. Mike Verdeschi is CFO. All 2026 insider transactions found were open-market sales, led by the founder; the 28–29 Oct 2026 filing did not tick the 10b5-1 box, and plan status for the other filings was not verified. Recent transactions from SEC Form 4 filings (weighted-average prices):

Name	Date	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Plan Type
Charles R. Schwab (Co-Chairman)	03 Nov 2026	Sell	11,675	$89.21	~$1.04m	Not verified
Charles R. Schwab (via trust)	29 Oct 2026	Sell	136,400	$89.50	~$12.21m	Not 10b5-1
Charles R. Schwab (via trust)	28 Oct 2026	Sell	66,750	$88.36	~$5.90m	Not 10b5-1
Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz (Director)	26 Aug 2026	Sell	9,175	$109.25	~$1.00m	Not verified
Jon Beatty (Head of Advisor Services)	17 Aug 2026	Sell	1,000	$111.33	~$0.11m	Not verified
Charles R. Schwab (via partnership)	11 Aug 2026	Sell	46,445	$107.78	~$5.01m	Not verified
Paula Sneed (Director)	07 Aug 2026	Sell	5,263	$107.15	~$0.56m	Not verified
Charles R. Schwab (Co-Chairman)	04 Aug 2026	Sell	47,650	$106.08	~$5.05m	Not verified

10. Key Risks

• Interest rates and cash sorting (Macro): The 10-K says falling rates reduce net interest revenue and bank deposit fees, while rising rates push clients to move sweep cash into higher-yielding products, as happened in 2022–2023.
• Unrealised securities losses (Financial): Held-to-maturity securities with an amortised cost of $126.6bn had a fair value of $113.2bn at 30 Sep 2026, and available-for-sale securities carried $4,571m of gross unrealised losses.
• Capital rules (Regulatory): Proposals could require unrealised losses to count against regulatory capital (Schwab's Tier 1 leverage ratio including them was 7.0%), and stricter Category II rules would apply if average assets reach $700bn, against $520.7bn at 30 Sep 2026.
• TD sweep agreement (Financial): Schwab must keep between $60bn and $90bn of client cash swept to TD Bank; balances were $68.0bn at 30 Sep 2026, limiting how much cash it can bring onto its own higher-earning balance sheet.
• Competition (Competitive): Fintech brokers and rival custodians compete on price, product and technology, which could slow asset growth or force lower fees and higher cash rates.
• Cyber and outages (Operational): As a holder of $13.33tn of client assets, Schwab is exposed to cyber attacks, fraud and technology or cloud outages that could cause losses and damage trust.
• Litigation (Legal): Objectors have appealed the court-approved settlement in the Corrente antitrust case over the TD Ameritrade merger to the Fifth Circuit; Schwab describes the monetary impact as immaterial.

11. Recent Developments

• 03 Nov 2026 — Founder sells more shares. Co-Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 11,675 shares at about $89.21, after selling 203,150 shares through a trust on 28–29 Oct 2026.
• 22 Oct 2026 — Dividend declared. Schwab declared a $0.32 quarterly dividend, payable on 27 Nov 2026 to holders of record on 13 Nov 2026.
• 15 Oct 2026 — Record Q3 results. Net revenues rose 17% to $7,171m and adjusted EPS rose 29% to $1.69; core net new assets were a record $190.4bn and client assets reached $13.33tn. At its Fall Business Update Schwab announced single stock futures on thinkorswim and plans to add more digital assets.
• 30 Sep 2026 — Charley launched. Schwab launched Charley, an AI assistant that helps clients get answers and take action, with a phased rollout to US retail clients from October.
• 14 Sep 2026 — Anthropic partnership. Schwab and Anthropic agreed to bring Claude for Financial Advisors to more than 16,000 independent advisers on Schwab's platform.
• 12 May 2026 — Crypto trading begins. The first Schwab clients began trading spot bitcoin and ether through Schwab Crypto.
• 02 Mar 2026 — Forge Global acquired. Schwab completed its acquisition of private-markets platform Forge Global for $45 a share in cash.

Schwab's earnings are sensitive to interest rates, so Federal Reserve decisions and inflation data on the ChartsView Economic Calendar are worth watching.

12. Key Dates

• 13 Nov 2026 — Record date (and ex-dividend date) for the $0.32 quarterly dividend.
• 27 Nov 2026 — Payment of the $0.32 quarterly common dividend.
• 01 Dec 2026 — Payment of preferred stock dividends.
• Expected Jan 2027 — Q4 and full-year 2026 results, usually with a Winter Business Update (Q4 2025 results were released on 21 Jan 2026; date not yet confirmed).
• Expected Jan 2027 — Declaration of the next quarterly common dividend.

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