News · Wintrust Financial Corporation (WTFC) · Financial Services

Wintrust Financial rises 2.7% because of third-quarter earnings beat

Session of October 20, 2026 · Published October 21, 2026 · 4 min read

What happened

Wintrust Financial (WTFC) rose 2.7% on October 20, 2026, because third-quarter results beat expectations and the company reported record nine-month net income. The bank reported third-quarter net income of $239 million. It also said diluted earnings per share were $3.37, topping the Zacks consensus of $3.29. For the first nine months of 2026 Wintrust posted record net income of $700.1 million, or $9.89 per diluted common share. Trading volume that day was 1.9 times its 20-day average as the Financial Services sector median rose 1.1%.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 20, 2026, WTFC closed at $146.28, up 2.7% on the day and 2.8% lower than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The stock closed at $146.28, a daily gain of 2.7% and a rise of 2.4% over the last five sessions. The session’s move was 2.3 times a typical daily move for this stock and was 1.6 percentage points better than the sector median. For context, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% on the session while the S&P 500 over five sessions fell 1.2%.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 20, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 1.5%, so the latest move equals 1.8 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 3.0%) are unusual.

In the past five years the stock had 88 sessions with a gain of at least 2.7%. Twenty trading days after such sessions the median result was a gain of 1.1%, and 49 of 88 were higher. The stock’s beta is 1.07, indicating it tends to move about as much as the market.

The technical picture

The stock traded 1.7% above its 20-day moving average but remained 2.1% below its 50-day moving average and 2.5% below its 200-day moving average. The 50-day average is below the 200-day average, a sign of a weak longer-term trend. The Relative Strength Index (14 days) sits at 52, inside the neutral range between 30 and 70.

Closing price over the past year. WTFC ends the period 12.4% below its 52-week high, below its 50-day average ($149.41) and below its 200-day average ($150.02).

The shares are 12.5% below their 52-week high. They fell 0.5% over one month and fell 7.7% over three months, but they rose 19.2% over one year, 3.4 percentage points ahead of the S&P 500. Volatility over 60 days is 18% annualized, lower than 99% of its own readings over five years.

Fundamentals and valuation

For the four quarters through September 30, 2026, Wintrust reported revenue of $4.39 billion, a year-over-year increase of 5.3%. That compared with revenue growth one quarter earlier of 6.1%. Diluted earnings per share for the period were $13.19, a rise of 21.1% from a year earlier. Gross margin improved to 64.2% from 61.5% a year earlier, and operating margin rose to 28.6% from 25.6%.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $1.1B, 4.1% more than the same quarter a year earlier.

On balance sheet measures the company reported net debt of 2.8 times EBITDA and return on invested capital of 6.7%. Share count increased by 1.1% over one year. The company’s market value stood at $9.72 billion on the session.

Valuation measures put Wintrust at 11.1 times trailing earnings and 11.1 times price to forward earnings. That price-to-earnings multiple is lower than 67% of its own readings over the past five years; the five-year median is 11.8 times earnings. PromtFinance scores rank the company’s Value at 81 (Strong) and Revisions at 92 (Exceptional), while Momentum and Stability score 36 and 31, respectively.

Earnings and analyst expectations

Wintrust reported third-quarter 2026 diluted EPS of $3.37 on October 19, 2026, beating the Zacks consensus of $3.29. The company said the third quarter marked its seventh consecutive quarter of record quarterly net income. For the first nine months of 2026 it produced record net income of $700.1 million, or $9.89 per diluted common share, up from $600.8 million, or $8.25, in the year-ago period.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows $3.37, against $2.79 in the same quarter a year earlier.

The firm has now recorded eight consecutive quarters beating estimates and its average surprise over the last four reports was 5.8% above estimates. Typical two-day reactions after recent reports have seen the stock fall 0.1%.

Analysts covering the stock number 22, with a consensus rating of Buy. Sixty-eight percent of analysts assigned Buy or higher ratings. The consensus price target is $179.22, which is 22.5% above the closing price on October 20, 2026.

Wintrust held its Q3 2026 earnings call on October 20, 2026, with executives Timothy Crane, David Stoehr, Richard Murphy and David Dykstra participating and answering questions from analysts including representatives from RBC Capital Markets and Raymond James. The company’s results and the management discussion on the call were cited in reporting by Seeking Alpha, GlobeNewsWire and Zacks Investment Research.

What to watch

Next report: January 19, 2027.
Third-quarter net income: $239 million and diluted EPS of $3.37, reported October 19, 2026.
Nine-month 2026 net income: $700.1 million, or $9.89 per diluted common share, reported by GlobeNewsWire and Zacks Investment Research.
Consensus price target: $179.22 from 22 analysts, 22.5% above the closing price.
Trading volume was 1.9 times its 20-day average on October 20, 2026.

Full WTFC analysis: scores, chart and financials →