TFC

FY2025 is Truist's first 'clean' year after the messy 2024 TIH-sale repositioning (which buried $6.7B of securities losses) and the 2023 GAAP net loss of -$1.05B. On a comparable basis the franchise earned $5.31B of net income (+9.6%) and $3.82 of diluted EPS (+13.7%), with net income to common of $5.0B vs $4.5B. The improvement is real but modest in quality: net interest income rose just 2.2% TE to $14.4B, net interest margin was flat at 3.03%, and total revenue is roughly back to its ~$20B 2023 level rather than growing. Management's own framing — 'drive positive operating leverage,' 'accelerate revenue growth' — describes goals, not achievements, and ROTCE actually slipped to 12.7% from 13.3%.

The core problem for the stock is returns. Return on equity of 8.1% (8.4% on common per the 10-K) sits below a bank's ~10% cost of equity, and that is precisely why the shares trade at about book ($47.74 common equity per share vs a $48.33 price, ~1.4x the $33.48 tangible book). A bank that doesn't out-earn its cost of capital deserves roughly book value, so the 12.7x P/E is fair rather than cheap — you are paying a reasonable price for sub-par profitability, not buying a discount.