Synchrony earned $2.68 a share as card spending rose 8 percent

Spending went up and profit went down. Synchrony Financial, the Stamford, Connecticut card lender, reported third-quarter net earnings of $892 million, or $2.68 a diluted share, against $1.1 billion and $2.86 a year earlier, in a release filed with the SEC at 6:00 a.m. on October 20.

Purchase volume rose 8 percent to $49.7 billion and loan receivables grew 3 percent to $103.3 billion. Credit improved on each delinquency measure in the release: loans 30 or more days past due fell to 4.34 percent from 4.39 percent, and net charge-offs eased to 4.79 percent of average receivables from 5.16 percent.

The decline came from the provision and from costs. Synchrony built $30 million of reserves where a year earlier it had released $152 million, which lifted the provision $120 million to $1.3 billion, and other expense rose 10 percent to $1.4 billion on operational losses, technology and marketing. The net interest margin slipped 12 basis points to 15.50 percent.

The company returned $1.2 billion to shareholders, $1.1 billion of it in buybacks. Chief executive Brian Doubles said spending reached a record for a third quarter.

The document: Synchrony Financial, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1, October 20, 2026.