RF Q2'26 Conference Call Notes
Three things from RF's call, starting with: The quiet powerhouse: Small business is secretly driving the entire deposit story
Three things that matter from RF’s Q2’26 call:
The quiet powerhouse: Small business is secretly driving the entire deposit story: Small business deposits now contribute 30% of quarter-over-quarter non-interest-bearing deposit growth while small business checking production is up 7% YTD. This isn’t being priced in as the real deposit moat.
Loan growth acceleration masks a quality downshift: Yes, loans grew 2% QoQ, but over half was investment-grade draws at tight spreads. The real story: they’re sacrificing margins for volume, and the language around spreads went from ‘tightening’ in Q1 to just ‘competitive but rational’ in Q2.
They stopped disclosing DSO and the ‘portfolios of interest’ are suddenly vague: Business office portfolio down 35% YoY, trucking down 25%, but no absolute dollar amounts given anymore. When banks stop giving denominators, they’re hiding deterioration elsewhere.
Disclosure Quality: B- | Financial Quality: C+
