Royal Bank of Canada stock double-tops ahead of Q1 earnings - Invezz# Royal Bank of Canada stock double- tops ahead of Q1 earnings[Finance & Banking]Author[Crispus Nyaga]Feb 23, 2026, 14:14 PM- The main catalyst for the stock this week will be its corporate earnings.- The daily chart shows that it has formed a double-top pattern.- Royal Bank of Canada's share price has been in a strong bull run for years.Royal Bank of Canada stock has been in an unstoppable bull run in the past few years and is now hovering ...

ISELIN, N.J., Feb. 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Provident Bank, a leading New Jersey-based financial institution has announced the appointment of Joseph A. Tammaro, Jr. as Executive Vice President, Head of Middle Market Lending. In this role, Mr. Tammaro will report to Bill Fink, Executive Vice President, Chief Lending Officer, and will be responsible for leading Provident’s Middle Market Lending Group, including business development, customer relationship management, portfolio performance, credit quality, ...

Core Insights - Gatekeeper Systems Inc. reported significant contract wins and financial results for Q1 2026, highlighting a strong growth trajectory in both transit and school bus segments [3][4][5]. Business Highlights - The company secured its largest-ever contracts in transit and school bus segments, including a $27 million contract with New York MTA's Long Island Rail Road and a $9.3 million contract in California for school bus video solutions [3][4][5]. - Approximately $35 million in new contracts were announced in the transit segment, while around $11 million in new contracts were reported in the school bus segment during the quarter and subsequent to the quarter end [4][5]. - The company raised $13.5 million in a bought deal financing, enhancing its financial position to support large contracts [6]. Financial Performance - Revenue for Q1 2026 was $5.9 million, a decrease from $7.3 million in the same period last year [8][9]. - Gross profit for the quarter was $2.7 million, down from $3.2 million year-over-year, with a gross margin of 45%, up from 43% in the prior year [8][9]. - Operating expenses increased to $4.3 million from $3.1 million in the previous year, resulting in a comprehensive loss of $0.8 million compared to a profit of $0.6 million in the prior year [8][9]. - As of November 30, 2025, the company had working capital of $35 million, including cash of $18 million, and total assets of $42.0 million [8][9].

Core Insights - Nearly 60% of the largest banks in the U.S. are either already offering Bitcoin-related services or expect to do so, indicating a significant trend towards Bitcoin adoption in the banking sector [1][5] Group 1: Current Offerings and Initiatives - Major U.S. banks such as JPMorgan Chase have launched Bitcoin trading services, while Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley provide Bitcoin exposure primarily to high-net-worth clients [2] - U.S. Bank and BNY Mellon are among the first systemically important banks to offer custody services for Bitcoin [3] - PNC Group has launched both Bitcoin custody and trading services, while State Street and HSBC's U.S. operations have announced custody plans [5] Group 2: Exploratory Stages and Recommendations - Some banks, including Citigroup and Fifth Third, are still in the exploratory stages regarding custody and trading offerings [6] - Bank of America has recommended that clients allocate up to 4% of their portfolios to cryptocurrencies, reflecting a shift in stance even among banks without direct Bitcoin products [4][9] - Bank of America also plans to initiate coverage of four U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which provide direct exposure to Bitcoin [10] Group 3: Banks Yet to Enter the Market - Despite the growing momentum, a significant minority of large U.S. banks have not yet announced Bitcoin-related products or plans, with nine banks remaining on the sidelines [7][8][11]

Core Insights - TD Bank has experienced a remarkable share price increase of +65.85% year-over-year, rising from $77 [1] Company Performance - The significant growth in TD Bank's share price is notable for a Canadian diversified bank, indicating strong market performance [1]

Core Insights - Diversification remains a successful investment strategy, with international stocks significantly outperforming U.S. equities in 2025, as evidenced by the S&P 500's 15% increase compared to Spain's 40% and South Korea's 65% gains [1] Group 1: International Stock Performance - South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index has risen over 65% YTD, driven by favorable domestic policies and a tech sector buoyed by AI advancements [3] - Spain's IBEX 35 index has increased more than 40% YTD, supported by a booming banking sector and a GDP growth of 3%, nearly tripling the overall EU GDP growth [5][7] - The Canadian stock market has seen gains exceeding 30% in 2025, with the iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund up nearly 35%, benefiting from reduced tariffs and strong performance in megacap banks [12][15] Group 2: ETFs for International Exposure - The Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF (NYSE:FLKR) offers exposure to South Korean equities with a low expense ratio of 0.09%, heavily weighted towards Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix [4] - The iShares MSCI Spain ETF (NYSE:EWP) has a 0.50% expense ratio and $1.6 billion in AUM, with over 40% of its holdings in the finance sector, including major banks like Santander and BBVA [7] - The Franklin FTSE Latin America ETF (NYSE:FLLA) provides broad exposure to Latin American markets with a 0.19% expense ratio, focusing on Brazilian and Mexican stocks [10] - The Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (NYSE:VGK) has gained nearly 35% YTD, with a low expense ratio of 0.06% and a diverse portfolio of over 1,200 stocks [11] - The iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund (NYSE:EWC) has a 0.50% expense ratio and focuses on major banks, with top 10 holdings accounting for over 43% of its assets [15]

Core Insights - The article discusses the latest insights from technology companies regarding AI developments and their implications for the industry and business landscape. Adobe - Adobe's management is focusing on the development of its Firefly models and expanding partnerships with other Generative AI models, with the new Firefly Image 5 model showing strong performance [2][3] - The consumption of Generative Credits, which measure usage and monetization of Adobe's models, increased 3x sequentially in Q3 2025, indicating high-value usage [3][12] - Firefly is attracting new creators, with a 2x sequential growth in first-time subscriptions in Q3 2025, and over 100 new deals for Firefly Services were signed by enterprises [5][12] - Adobe's management sees LLMs as a significant opportunity for customer acquisition, allowing for better integration of their models with APIs [6] - The introduction of Adobe Brand Concierge and Firefly Foundry aims to enhance customer engagement and content production efficiency [18][21] MongoDB - MongoDB's management believes that the AI wave has not yet significantly impacted its results, but there are encouraging signs from AI startups building applications on its platform [24][25] - The company sees a structural advantage in its document database model for AI applications, which require a different architecture than traditional databases [26][27] - MongoDB Atlas is supporting significant growth for companies like Mercor, which has seen a 50% month-over-month growth using MongoDB [28][29] - A global media company switched from Elastic Search to MongoDB Atlas, achieving a 90% reduction in latency and a 35% increase in click-through rates [30] NVIDIA - NVIDIA's management reports unprecedented demand for its Blackwell platform, with visibility to $0.5 trillion in revenue from 2025 to 2026 [36][40] - The company anticipates a $3 trillion to $4 trillion annual AI infrastructure build by 2030, driven by increasing compute spend from foundation model builders [37][41] - NVIDIA's GPUs, including older generations, are fully utilized, providing a significant total cost of ownership advantage [39] - The company has seen strong growth in its data center revenue, driven by the GB300 chip, which contributed to a record $51.2 billion in Q3 2025 [40] - NVIDIA's networking revenue has also seen substantial growth, with a 162% year-over-year increase, as major AI deployments now include its networking solutions [47][48]

Core Insights - Canadian banks have reported strong quarterly earnings, generally exceeding estimates and resulting in significant stock price increases [1][2] - Despite challenges in the Canadian economy, banks are successfully generating higher revenues and profits, partly due to their substantial operations in the U.S. market [1] - The Canadian banking sector has shown impressive long-term performance, often outperforming the U.S. stock market [8] Earnings Performance - TD Bank reported a revenue decline to $15.49 billion, down 0.1% year over year, but adjusted earnings per share increased by 26.7% to $2.18 [8] - Royal Bank of Canada achieved revenue growth of $17.21 billion, up 14.2% year over year, with adjusted earnings per share rising by 25% to $3.85 [9] - Scotiabank's revenue grew to $9.8 billion, up 14.8% year over year, with adjusted earnings per share increasing by 22.9% to $2.56 [11][12] - Bank of Montreal reported revenue growth of $9.34 billion, up 4.2% year over year, and adjusted earnings per share surged by 72.6% to C$3.28 [14] - CIBC's revenue increased to $7.58 billion, up 14.5% year over year, with adjusted earnings per share rising by 16% to C$2.21 [16] - National Bank's revenue grew to $3.7 billion, up 25.9% year over year, with adjusted earnings per share increasing by 9% to C$2.82 [18] Market Performance - The Canadian banking sector ETF, ZEB-T, saw a weekly increase of 3.01% [7] - Individual bank stock performances for the week included CIBC up 4.78%, Royal Bank up 4.52%, TD Bank up 3.95%, Scotiabank up 2.66%, Bank of Montreal up 1.39%, and National Bank up 1.07% [10]

Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - The bank reported Q4 earnings of CAD 3.9 billion, with EPS of CAD 2.18, and ROE increased by 110 basis points year over year [10][11] - Total Bank PTPP was up 25% year over year, and revenue net of ISE grew 15% year over year [25][26] - The bank's Q4 C/T1 ratio was 14.7%, with strong capital generation in the quarter [11][32] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking achieved record revenue, deposits, and loan volumes, with average deposits rising 4% year over year [13][27] - U.S. Retail core loans grew 2% year over year, with bank card balances up 14% year over year [14][29] - Wealth Management reported record earnings and assets, with new accounts up 27% and trades per day up 37% year over year [15][30] - Wholesale Banking delivered record revenue of CAD 2.2 billion, showcasing broad-based growth across global markets and corporate banking [16][31] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - The Canadian economy remains resilient despite uncertainties around tariffs and trade dynamics, with government actions expected to support economic activity [5][6] - In the U.S., businesses and households are benefiting from regulatory and monetary policy changes, leading to increased investment activity [6] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The bank's strategy focuses on deepening client relationships, simplifying operations, and executing with discipline [7][9] - AI is identified as a significant growth opportunity, with plans to implement 200 million in incremental value from AI use cases in the next year [8] - The bank aims to achieve 6%-8% EPS growth and 13% ROE targets for fiscal 2026, with potential upside from strong business momentum [10][34] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management expressed confidence in achieving medium-term targets despite economic uncertainties, with a focus on prudent provisioning and strong capital position [9][39] - The bank expects PCLs to be in the 40-50 basis points range, an improvement from the previous year's guidance [39] Other Important Information - The bank announced a CAD 0.03 dividend increase, bringing the total dividend to CAD 1.08 per share, reflecting confidence in future growth [11][12] - The bank is over three-quarters of the way through its CAD 8 billion share buyback program, with plans for a new buyback of CAD 6 billion-CAD 7 billion [12][13] Q&A Session Summary Question: Dynamics behind residential mortgages and HELOC portfolio performance - Management explained that the Canadian housing outlook is slightly better due to pent-up demand and a strong customer profile, with stable delinquencies across both residential mortgages and HELOCs [42][43] Question: Capital ratio and buyback pace - Management indicated that they plan to complete the existing share buyback program and initiate a new one, while striving to manage the CET1 ratio effectively [48][51] Question: Margin outlook and expense growth - Management discussed the stability of margins and the expectation of mid-single-digit expense growth, emphasizing ongoing productivity initiatives [62][72] Question: Insurance business performance - Management noted that while Q4 earnings were weak, the full-year performance was strong, with a focus on rebalancing from high-cat zones to improve future stability [81][82]

Core Insights - A significant number of treasury professionals are still using outdated manual systems, with 80% relying on these methods, which presents challenges alongside macroeconomic uncertainty and market volatility [1][2] - Digital cash flow visibility and liquidity management solutions are recognized as transformative, yet adoption remains low due to loyalty to manual processes and funding difficulties [2] - The treasury function is evolving to focus on operational control and financial strategy, with digital capabilities and risk management being crucial for creating strategic value [3] Group 1: Treasury Management Trends - Treasury professionals are advancing in digitization, embedded banking, and automation, with some moving towards agentic AI for various financial processes [4] - Fraud is a growing threat in the treasury and financial services sector, necessitating stronger authentication practices and employee training to combat schemes like social engineering and cyberattacks [5] - Relationship banking continues to influence the delivery of treasury services, emphasizing the importance of collaboration in a dynamic environment [6] Group 2: Strategic Focus for Treasury Teams - To achieve sustainable growth, treasury teams should prioritize continuous learning, invest in advanced technologies, and foster cross-functional partnerships [7] - The opportunity for treasury leaders lies in moving beyond manual routines to enhance strategic finance capabilities [7]