SCHW Stock Up On Solid Q1 Revenue View, Higher February Client Assets

Shares of Charles Schwab SCHW have gained 2% on Friday in response to upbeat revenue guidance for the first quarter of 2026. The company reported an increase in total client assets for February.

Schwab’s Signals Strong First-Quarter 2026 Performance

Management expects first-quarter total revenues to grow approximately 16% from the prior-year quarter. The increase will be driven by “strong quarter-to-date client engagement across trading, wealth and lending solutions.”

In its earlier guidance issued in January, Schwab projected full-year revenue growth of 9.5-10.5%.

SCHW Posts a Rise in February Client Assets

The company’s total client assets were $12.22 trillion in February 2026, up 18.9% from February 2025 and rose marginally from January 2026. This was driven by the volatile markets during the month.

SCHW’s core net new assets (NNA) were $32.5 billion in February 2026, down 32.3% from the prior-year month but up 16.9% sequentially.

Schwab’s client assets receiving ongoing advisory services totaled $6.26 trillion, up 20.5% from the year-ago period and 1.6% from the prior month.

Schwab’s average interest-earning assets of $434.2 billion rose 2.3% from February 2025 but declined 1.7% from the previous month. Margin balances were $120.6 billion, up 39.4% from the year-ago month and 3.7% from January 2026.

Schwab opened 395,000 new brokerage accounts in February 2026, up 9.1% from the year-earlier month but down 17% from the prior month.

Schwab’s active brokerage accounts totaled 38.9 million at the end of February 2026, up 5.6% year over year and marginally from January 2026. Client banking accounts were 2.3 million, up 11.1% from the February 2025 level and slightly higher than the prior quarter. The number of workplace plan participant accounts rose 6.7% year over year and increased modestly from the January 2026 level to 5.8 million.

Our Take on Schwab

Schwab remains well positioned, supported by its diversified financial model and steady client engagement. The company expects that by year-end, equity market returns will be around 6.5%, average daily trades will be roughly 7.4 million and organic asset growth will be about 5%.

Its strategic initiatives, including the planned acquisitions of Forge Global, branch expansion and AI-driven capabilities, are likely to support client asset growth. Efforts to repay high-cost bank supplemental funding balances are expected to aid net interest income. Its strong liquidity position is likely to support sustainable capital distribution.

Rising operating expenses, intense fintech competition and uncertainty around capital market performance remain concerns.

SCHW’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance

In the past three months, Schwab shares have declined 3.7% compared with the industry’s fall of 11.1%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Currently, SCHW carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Schwab’s Peers in February

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.’s IBKR Electronic Brokerage segment, which deals with the clearance and settlement of trades for individual and institutional clients globally, reported a year-over-year rise in client Daily Average Revenue Trades (“DARTs”) in February 2026.

IBKR’s total client DARTs in February were 4,366,000, representing a 21% increase from February 2025 but declining 1% from January 2026. On an annualized basis, cleared average DARTs per customer account were 204 in February. The metric declined 9% on a year-over-year basis and 3% from January 2026.

Robinhood Markets, Inc. HOOD released the monthly operating data for February 2026. It reported a rise in equity and options DARTs from the year-ago period.

HOOD’s equity DARTs were 2.6 million in the reported month, up 8% from February 2025. Options DARTs rose 8% year over year to 1.3 million. Crypto DARTs declined 29% from the prior-year month to 0.5 million.

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The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW): Free Stock Analysis Report

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