Good morning. Huntington Bancshares Inc. is marking its one hundred and sixtieth 12 months by displaying that conventional department banking and digital progress can advance collectively, not at one another’s expense.
Based in 1866, Huntington (No. 351 on the Fortune 500) operates greater than 1,000 branches nationwide and is leaning into growth. CFO Zachary Wasserman described 2026 as a “major” strategic 12 months, with a give attention to integrating latest partnerships whereas preserving core companies rising sooner than the business.
A visual piece of that technique is the Southeast build-out. “Our expectation is opening one branch almost every two weeks this year in North Carolina and South Carolina,” Wasserman mentioned.
Huntington opened 5 branches throughout the 2 states in 2025 and plans roughly 24 extra this 12 months, placing it on observe for about 55 areas by the top of 2027. Past bodily growth, the financial institution views every new department as a expertise alternative. “We’re putting a major organizational focus around this, and the results have been encouraging,” Wasserman mentioned.
The rollout has been supported by heavy pre-launch advertising and marketing, with many branches surpassing full-year deposit targets earlier than opening, he added.
On the similar time, Huntington has turn out to be more and more digital-first in new buyer acquisition. The financial institution now brings in additional prospects digitally than by means of branches—an strategy Wasserman described as “very unusual” for an establishment of its measurement. Most new relationships now start on-line, even when prospects later flip to branches for extra advanced wants.
Crucially, the digital and bodily footprints overlap. About 80% of latest digital prospects reside inside 5 miles of a Huntington department, underscoring that native presence nonetheless issues even when accounts are opened on-line, Wasserman mentioned. The financial institution is utilizing that proximity to deepen relationships and drive progress in higher-value companies similar to industrial funds, wealth administration and capital markets, he mentioned.
Huntington reported on Thursday stable fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 outcomes, pushed by mortgage and deposit progress, increased payment revenue, bettering margins and robust credit score high quality. Fourth-quarter EPS was $0.30, or $0.37 on an adjusted foundation, up 9% 12 months over 12 months and forward of estimates. Goldman Sachs reiterated its purchase ranking and $21 value goal on the inventory following what it referred to as a “decent quarter and mixed outlook.”
Behind the department and digital push is a broader integration agenda. Wasserman mentioned Huntington is “well down the track” on integrating two just lately introduced financial institution partnerships—its merger with Veritex Holdings and a definitive settlement to accumulate Cadence Financial institution. The financial institution is making use of classes from the Veritex deal, together with early management selections and clear communication round techniques conversions, to retain workers and prospects throughout transitions.
Wasserman framed Huntington’s technique as a long-term effort to win market share by means of regular, multi-year funding somewhat than stop-start progress cycles. Constant spending on branches, digital platforms and specialised companies, he mentioned, is essential to completely realizing the advantages of the financial institution’s growth over time.
Have a superb weekend.
Leaderboard
CFO strikes this week:
Josh Jepsen was appointed CFO of Honeywell Aerospace, efficient February 23, which is able to turn out to be an impartial, publicly traded firm following its deliberate spin-off from Honeywell within the second half of 2026. The corporate will likely be headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and can commerce on the Nasdaq underneath the ticker image “HONA.” Jepsen is presently SVP and CFO of Deere & Firm. Earlier than this position, he held senior positions throughout finance, investor relations, and accounting at Deere.
Patrick O’Connell, CFO of AMC Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: AMCX), will likely be departing the corporate to pursue a possibility outdoors of the media business. O’Connell will stay with AMC Networks by means of March and take part within the firm’s 2025 fourth quarter and year-end earnings name. The corporate has initiated a seek for O’Connell’s successor.
Hugo Doetsch was appointed CFO of AuditBoard, a governance, threat, and compliance platform. Doetsch brings over twenty years of monetary management and strategic working expertise to AuditBoard. Most just lately, he served as CFO at symplr, an enterprise well being care operations software program supplier. Earlier than that, he was CFO at NetDocuments, a cloud-based content material administration platform. Doetsch additionally held senior management roles at Ping Identification, the place he assisted the corporate in a 2019 preliminary public providing.
Linda LaGorga will step down as CFO of Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTG), a sophisticated supplies science supplier, efficient Feb. 28. Efficient March 1. Mike Sauer, Entegris’ VP, controller and chief accounting officer, will assume the position of interim CFO, along with sustaining the tasks of his present position. LaGorga will function a senior advisor to Entegris by means of Might 15. Entegris has initiated a search course of for a everlasting CFO with an government search agency.
Ann Hyllengren was appointed CFO of Ember LifeSciences, Inc. Hyllengren joins Ember LifeSciences from Amgen, the place she brings practically twenty years of expertise. Most just lately, she served as a senior government on Amgen’s investor relations workforce. She additionally held a number of senior finance management roles at Amgen, together with serving as head of finance for the U.S. Common Drugs enterprise unit. As well as, she served as CFO of the Amgen Basis.
Anubhav Mittal was appointed SVP and CFO of Common Company (NYSE: UVV), a world agricultural merchandise firm, efficient Feb. 17. Mittal brings 20 years of expertise. Most just lately, he served as CFO of ADM Diet, Archer Daniels Midland Firm’s world vitamin, flavors, and elements enterprise. Mittal additionally beforehand served as CFO of ADM’s International Pet Options enterprise and as ADM’s world head of enterprise growth and M&A.
Helen Cai was appointed senior government vice chairman and CFO of Barrick Mining Company (NYSE: B), efficient March 1, following the departure of long-serving finance chief Graham Shuttleworth, who will likely be leaving the corporate after its year-end outcomes. Cai has served on Barrick’s board since November 2021 and brings greater than 20 years of expertise.
Meredith Peck was named CFO of Zekelman Industries, the most important impartial metal pipe and tube producer in North America. Peck succeeds Mike Graham, who will retire on Might 15 following a deliberate transition interval. She brings greater than 20 years of monetary management expertise and most just lately served as CFO for Cotsworks Inc., after earlier roles as the corporate’s controller after which vice chairman of finance and administration.
Huge Deal
Gartner, Inc. finds that the usage of AI instruments in investor analysis implies that CFOs are devoting extra time to investor relations.
A latest Gartner survey of 146 CFOs reveals that that 35% or extra of respondents reported a rise within the quantity, frequency, and time sensitivity of investor communications and engagements in 2025 when in comparison with 2024.
“It is going to become increasingly difficult for organizations to control their narrative and influence investors with manual methods alone,” Dymah Paige, a director analyst within the Gartner Finance follow, mentioned in a press release. “To keep pace, CFOs should be considering private AI solutions available on the market today that can help them to spend more of their time and effort on higher impact priorities.”
Based on Gartner analysts, the identical finance AI capabilities which can be accelerating investor analysis processes can be utilized by finance and IR groups to reinforce the depth of intelligence and operational efficiencies of their IR workflows.
“Companies can leverage these tools off the shelf and start to deploy right away, but in private, contained, and traceable environments. Some of the world’s biggest companies are already using these tools in their IR activities,” Paige mentioned.
Going deeper
Listed here are 4 Fortune weekend reads:
“AI luminaries at Davos clash over how close human level intelligence really is” By Jeremy Kahn
“No ‘job apocalypse’: Goldman Sachs CEO denies the AI hiring nightmare is real” By Nick Lichtenberg
“Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says ‘a lot’ of six-figure jobs in plumbing and construction are about to be unlocked because someone needs to build all these new AI centers” By Preston Fore
“American oil company CEOs feel increasingly ‘slighted’ by Trump’s focus on Venezuela: ‘That’s bad for U.S. producers’” By Jordan Blum
Overheard
“Many of our clients ask, ‘How can we rewire our organizations for artificial intelligence?’ Almost none ask the question that will ultimately determine whether AI delivers value: ‘Are we investing in the human advantage: our brains?'”
—Bob Sternfels, world managing associate of McKinsey & Firm, and Lucy Pérez, a senior associate and a world chief of the McKinsey Well being Institute, write in a Fortune opinion piece.
