The Charles Schwab Corporation

Record business momentum driving strong earnings (Q3 2026): Total net revenues were $7.2B (+17% YoY) and adjusted EPS was $1.69 (+29% YoY). Adjusted pre-tax margin expanded to 54.8% (about +350 bps YoY). Management attributed results to continued client engagement and growth across brokerage, wealth, trading, and lending.

Client growth & “Through Clients’ Eyes” engagement metrics (demand + retention): Clients opened 1.2M brokerage accounts in Q3 and attracted $190B core net new assets (up 38% YoY), ~6% annualized organic growth. Managed investing net flows hit a quarterly record of $24B and bank lending was $72B (+35% YoY). Firm-wide “transfer of assets” ratio is ~1.8 (improving). Also emphasized high usage/engagement: 1.8B client interactions YTD and clients moving ~$4T/month in day-to-day cash transactions.

AI strategy: growth catalyst + efficiency, but with strong safety controls (surprising/positive): Rick said AI is already contributing via higher client engagement and wealth conversations (not just cost cutting). Concrete offerings include Charlie (AI assistant for clients), Claude for Financial Advisors for RIA custodians, and allowing clients/traders to connect their LLMs to Schwab MCP servers—but Schwab blocks unauthorized “agent” login attempts and does not allow AI/LLM agents to move money due to risk. Management claims developer productivity +~25% and fewer call center issues first-call resolution gains (AI as an efficiency engine).