Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.13 EPS

28 Feb 2026, 16:40 by Tristan Rich · The Markets Daily

Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY – Get Free Report) (TSE:RY) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $13.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. Royal Bank Of Canada had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 15.28%.Royal Bank Of Canada’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.62 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Royal Bank Of Canada’s conference call:

Record earnings — adjusted Q1 earnings of CAD 5.9B (diluted EPS CAD 4.08), ROE 17.6% and CET1 ratio 13.7%; management repurchased ~4.2M shares (~CAD 1B) this quarter.
Wealth Management and Capital Markets delivered record revenue and pre-provision earnings (Canadian Wealth AUA surpassed CAD 1T; CapMarkets revenue CAD 4B), with City National showing strong, improving profitability.
Credit trends weakened in places — provisions on impaired loans rose (notably in Capital Markets), performing-loan provisions were CAD 28M, and gross impaired loans increased to CAD 9.2B, with commercial real estate and regional mortgage stress (Ontario/GTA) highlighted.
Forward guidance is mixed — management expects mid-single-digit NII growth (ex-trading) and mid-single-digit expense growth with continued positive operating leverage, but flagged a ~4 bps near-term NIM headwind from PPA roll-off and a modest ~10 bps CET1 impact from retail capital parameter changes.

Royal Bank Of Canada Stock Down 1.5%

RY stock traded down $2.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $167.26. 2,485,387 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,236,434. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $170.03 and its 200-day moving average is $155.79. Royal Bank Of Canada has a 12 month low of $106.10 and a 12 month high of $176.19. The company has a market cap of $233.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Royal Bank Of Canada Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 23rd will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada’s payout ratio is currently 45.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FIL Ltd boosted its position in Royal Bank Of Canada by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 23,258,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,965,133,000 after acquiring an additional 255,465 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 15,233,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,596,904,000 after purchasing an additional 238,589 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,879,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,029,469,000 after purchasing an additional 245,116 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,756,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $641,233,000 after purchasing an additional 53,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Royal Bank Of Canada by 2.4% during the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 2,892,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,299,000 after purchasing an additional 67,151 shares during the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on RY shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Royal Bank Of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Royal Bank Of Canada from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Royal Bank Of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Bank Of Canada has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.00.

View Our Latest Analysis on RY

Key Stories Impacting Royal Bank Of Canada

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Bank Of Canada this week:

Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — RBC reported EPS of $2.94 vs. the $2.81 consensus and revenue of $13.18B (vs. $12.6B est.), driven by growth in personal banking, wealth management and capital markets; this supports the bank’s earnings outlook and valuation. Zacks: RY beats Q1 earnings
Positive Sentiment: Net income and revenue momentum — reporting showed ~13% net income growth and broad-based revenue strength across retail and capital markets, echoing peer-beating results for Canadian banks this quarter. Financial Post: RBC tops earnings estimates
Positive Sentiment: Dividend maintained and investor-friendly payout — RBC declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 (annualized yield ~3.9%, ex-dividend April 23), which supports yield-seeking investors and long-term total-return expectations.
Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials released — the company posted its Q1 earnings presentation and call materials (useful for assessing segment-level trends and management commentary). Seeking Alpha: Q1 presentation
Neutral Sentiment: RBC’s capital markets research remains active — the bank’s equity research is initiating and updating coverage (e.g., Eli Lilly, AbbVie), which speaks to the franchise’s research reach but has limited direct impact on RY’s near-term stock moves. InsiderMonkey: RBC initiates LLY coverage
Negative Sentiment: Talent attrition and trading losses in high‑yield desk — reports say at least five high‑yield analysts/traders have left after losses tied to the First Brands Group collapse, raising concerns about risk controls, P&L volatility in the corporate credit franchise and potential reputational/human‑capital costs. Financial Post: High-yield desk attrition

About Royal Bank Of Canada

(Get Free Report)

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY) is a diversified financial services company and one of Canada’s largest banks. Founded in 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the firm is now headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutional clients through a network of branches, digital platforms and international offices.

RBC operates across several principal business segments including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, investor and treasury services, capital markets, and global asset management.