The Charles Schwab Corporation SCHW
NYSEBanks and capital marketsFinancials to Jun 30, 2026 · Updated Oct 4, 2026
Moat ranks
Balance sheet
| $B | Dec 31 | Jun 30 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | 46.0 | 40.6 |
| Debt | 22.2 | 22.7 |
| Equity | 49.4 | 50.1 |
- Leases (12/31/25)
- $940M
- Diluted shares
- 1,739M
- Book value / share
- $28.84
- Price / book
- 3.3×
- Market cap
- $167.2B
Per-share record
Key indicators
| Indicator | Latest | Vs year ago | Last 8 quarters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 20.9% | -3.9 pts | |
| Pretax margin | 51.9% | +4.0 pts | |
| Expenses excluding interest | $3.4B | +12% | |
| Client cash as a share of assets | 9.0% | -0.9 pts | |
| Tier 1 leverage ratio | 8.7% | -1.1 pts | |
| Core net new client assets | $119.8B | +49% | |
| Long-term debt | $22.7B | +12% | |
| Bank deposits | $249.7B | +7% | |
| Other short-term borrowings | $13.9B | +65% |
Margins and growth from reported quarters; company KPIs as reported in results releases.
About SCHW
Charles Schwab provides U.S. retail brokerage, banking, investment advice and custody for independent advisers. Investor Services supplies most revenue; Advisor Services serves independent firms whose advice is separate from Schwab retail advice.
- Scale Economies Unit Cost
Schwab spreads technology and service costs across a large asset and account base.
- Suite Bundling
Combined brokerage, banking and advice services give customers more reasons to keep assets with Schwab than with a single-product provider.
- Brand Trust
A trust-centric brand helps acquisition/retention in custody and advice, and supports launch of new products to existing clients.
- Float Prepayment
Uninvested client cash balances provide a large, relationship-driven funding source supporting net interest revenue; advantage is cyclical with rate-driven cash sorting.
- Dec 31, 2023 · One-off charge −$67M
Remaining TD Ameritrade acquisition and integration costs reduced earnings.
- Dec 31, 2023 · Restructuring charge −$216M
Workforce, facilities and related impairment charges reduced earnings as Schwab simplified the combined business.
- Dec 31, 2023 · One-off charge −$172M
FDIC special assessment for the 2023 bank failures reduced quarterly earnings; recognition differs from later cash payments.
- Sep 30, 2023 · One-off charge −$106M
TD Ameritrade acquisition and integration costs reduced quarterly earnings; the client transition was still underway.
- Sep 30, 2023 · Restructuring charge −$279M
Workforce and facility restructuring reduced earnings as Schwab consolidated its platforms.
Ownership
Go deeper on SCHW
- Compare stock research toolsFundamentals, valuation and screening platforms for SCHW.19 tools
- See SCHW's price chartNo price chart here yet. See price history and indicators.17 tools
- Read SCHW's earnings callsTranscripts and audio of results calls, with management's own words.15 tools
- Investing tool dealsCurrent discounts on research, charting and tracking tools.81 deals
On this page
Financial record
| Fiscal year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | TTM | Trend | Change 2016–25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per share ($) | |||||||||||||
| Revenue | 5.61 | 6.37 | 7.44 | 8.12 | 8.15 | 9.76 | 10.96 | 10.29 | 10.69 | 13.22 | 14.97 | +10.0%/yr | |
| Earnings | 1.42 | 1.74 | 2.58 | 2.81 | 2.30 | 3.09 | 3.79 | 2.77 | 3.24 | 4.89 | 5.81 | +14.8%/yr | |
| Dividends | 0.36 | 0.44 | 0.58 | 0.80 | 0.89 | 0.96 | 1.11 | 1.24 | 1.24 | 1.29 | 1.38 | +15.1%/yr | |
| Book value | 12.31 | 13.69 | 15.19 | 16.47 | 39.07 | 29.66 | 19.33 | 22.37 | 26.38 | 27.32 | 28.84 | +9.3%/yr | |
| Diluted shares (M) | 1,334 | 1,353 | 1,361 | 1,320 | 1,435 | 1,897 | 1,894 | 1,831 | 1,834 | 1,809 | 1,739 | +3.4%/yr | |
| Totals ($B) | |||||||||||||
| Revenue | 7.5 | 8.6 | 10.1 | 10.7 | 11.7 | 18.5 | 20.8 | 18.8 | 19.6 | 23.9 | 26.0 | +13.8%/yr | |
| Pretax income | 3.0 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.3 | 7.7 | 9.4 | 6.4 | 7.7 | 11.5 | 13.1 | +16.1%/yr | |
| Net income | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 5.9 | 7.2 | 5.1 | 5.9 | 8.9 | 10.1 | +18.7%/yr | |
| Buybacks | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 0.0 | 7.3 | 8.9 | – | |
| Dividends | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.4 | +19.0%/yr | |
| Margins & returns (%) | |||||||||||||
| Pretax margin | 40.0 | 42.4 | 45.0 | 45.2 | 36.8 | 41.6 | 45.2 | 33.9 | 39.2 | 47.9 | 50.2 | +7.9 pts | |
| Net margin | 25.3 | 27.3 | 34.6 | 34.5 | 28.2 | 31.6 | 34.6 | 26.9 | 30.3 | 37.0 | 38.8 | +11.7 pts | |
| Return on equity | 11.5 | 12.7 | 17.0 | 17.0 | 5.9 | 10.4 | 19.6 | 12.4 | 12.3 | 17.9 | 20.1 | +6.4 pts | |
| Stock pay % of revenue | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.3 | -0.6 pts | |
Change uses 2016 and 2025 only: compound annual growth for amounts, points for margins and returns, and the change in amount for net cash. A dash means no 2016 base. Trend shows the fiscal years.
Moat
Moat scorecard
- Strength
- Confidence
- Structure
- Oligopoly
- Durability
- durable
- Trajectory
- widening
- Pricing power
- weak
- Investor Services78.2%4 claims
- Advisor Services21.8%2 claims
Moat claims
- Applies to
- Investor Services
- Confidence
- Durability
- durable
- Trajectory
- wideningas of Oct 4, 2026
Schwab spreads technology and service costs across a large asset and account base. H1 2026 Investor Services revenue rose 17% while expenses rose 9%, supporting low-cost delivery; market gains and funding recovery also helped.
H1 Investor Services revenue grew 17% while expenses grew 9%, supporting better cost absorption. Market gains and interest recovery also contributed, so the evidence does not establish a permanent cost gap.
- Client assets$13.41T
- Active brokerage accounts40,090,000
- Expenses excluding interest$3.4B+12%
- Advisor Services client assets$5.90T
- Expenses as a share of client assets0.1%-0.0 pts
- Competitors with similar scale match pricing
- Fintechs reduce marginal distribution costs
- Sustained fee compression
- FilingFY2025 Form 10-K (The Charles Schwab Corporation)Feb 25, 2026
- FilingQ2 2026 Form 10-Q (The Charles Schwab Corporation)Aug 7, 2026
- Applies to
- Investor Services
- Confidence
- Durability
- medium
- Trajectory
- stableas of Oct 4, 2026
Combined brokerage, banking and advice services give customers more reasons to keep assets with Schwab than with a single-product provider.
Retail advisory assets reached $929.8B in June and $956.4B in August. Adoption supports the suite, but household product counts and incremental retention are not disclosed.
- Core net new client assets$119.8B+49%
- Retail ongoing advisory assets$956.4B
- Customer unbundling to best-of-breed apps
- Open banking and easier account transfer
- Competitors bundle comparable suites
- FilingFY2025 Form 10-K (The Charles Schwab Corporation)Feb 25, 2026
- FilingQ2 2026 Form 10-Q (The Charles Schwab Corporation)Aug 7, 2026
- Applies to
- Investor Services
- Confidence
- Durability
- medium
- Trajectory
- stableas of Oct 4, 2026
A trust-centric brand helps acquisition/retention in custody and advice, and supports launch of new products to existing clients.
Active accounts and core inflows support continued client confidence. The evidence does not isolate brand effects from prices, markets or service.
- Client assets$13.41T
- Active brokerage accounts40,090,000
- Core net new client assets$119.8B+49%
- Reputational event or regulatory action
- Service outages or cybersecurity incident
- Perceived pricing/value deterioration
- FilingFY2025 Form 10-K (The Charles Schwab Corporation)Feb 25, 2026
- FilingQ2 2026 Form 10-Q (The Charles Schwab Corporation)Aug 7, 2026
- Applies to
- Investor Services
- Confidence
- Durability
- medium
- Trajectory
- stableas of Oct 4, 2026
Uninvested client cash balances provide a large, relationship-driven funding source supporting net interest revenue; advantage is cyclical with rate-driven cash sorting.
Transactional sweep cash reached $483.3B in August, but bank deposits and sweep cash are different pools. Cash sorting and rate cuts can still reduce the funding advantage.
- Client cash as a share of assets9.0%-0.9 pts
- Tier 1 leverage ratio8.7%-1.1 pts
- Long-term debt$22.7B+12%
- Bank deposits$249.7B+7%
- Other short-term borrowings$13.9B+65%
- Transactional sweep cash$483.3B
- Net interest revenue$3.4B+19%
- FHLB borrowings$500M-94%
- Clients move cash to money market funds or Treasuries
- Higher deposit costs (deposit beta) compress NIM
- Regulatory changes to sweep practices
- FilingFY2025 Form 10-K (The Charles Schwab Corporation)Feb 25, 2026
- FilingQ2 2026 Form 10-Q (The Charles Schwab Corporation)Aug 7, 2026
- FilingQ2 2026 Form 10-Q (The Charles Schwab Corporation) - IDA agreementAug 7, 2026
- Applies to
- Advisor Services
- Confidence
- Durability
- medium
- Trajectory
- stableas of Oct 4, 2026
Custody workflows (account opening, money movement, trading, reporting, archives) run through Schwab's advisor platform, raising switching costs for RIAs.
Custody workflows remain embedded and Claude connections add service capability. Actual adviser retention and migration costs are not disclosed; stronger rivals and open software limit confidence in widening.
- Core net new client assets$119.8B+49%
- Advisor Services client assets$5.90T
- Custodian-agnostic tech stacks reduce switching costs
- Data portability / API standardization
- Altruist competes on service and technology; the announced Vanguard acquisition could strengthen its resources
- Applies to
- Advisor Services
- Confidence
- Durability
- durable
- Trajectory
- wideningas of Oct 4, 2026
Large custody scale supports a cost-efficient service and technology model, enabling Schwab to compete aggressively on explicit custody pricing (often $0).
H1 Advisor Services revenue grew 24% while expenses grew 5%, supporting better cost absorption. Market appreciation and interest revenue helped, so custody scale alone does not explain the improvement.
- Client assets$13.41T
- Active brokerage accounts40,090,000
- Expenses excluding interest$3.4B+12%
- Advisor Services client assets$5.90T
- Expenses as a share of client assets0.1%-0.0 pts
- Competitors match price and invest in service/tech
- Margin pressure if NII declines
- Higher regulatory/compliance costs
- FilingFY2025 Form 10-K (The Charles Schwab Corporation)Feb 25, 2026
- FilingFY2025 Form 10-K (The Charles Schwab Corporation) - Advisor Services monetizationFeb 25, 2026
- FilingQ2 2026 Form 10-Q (The Charles Schwab Corporation)Aug 7, 2026
Profile change log
- Oct 4, 2026 · method change
Separated bank pretax results from industrial operating profit, and client cash from bank deposits. Rate sensitivity now allows a changing balance sheet, so older model outputs cannot be compared without the company restatement.
- Oct 4, 2026 · business change
Forge joined Schwab in March 2026. The announced Vanguard acquisition of Altruist and Schwab Claude connections increase the importance of adviser service quality; neither announcement proves a change in custody retention.
- Oct 4, 2026 · analyst revision
Added six moat trajectories, the earnings debate, management and shared market profiles. Scale benefits are widening with better cost absorption; trust, bundling, cash funding and adviser workflows remain stable without direct retention evidence.
- Oct 4, 2026 · analyst revision
Separated Schwab retail advice from independent-adviser assets: $929.8B of retail advice at June 2026 replaces the $6,671.7B combined balance as evidence of retail suite adoption. Removed operating-profit shares because the source reports pretax income.
Industry & peers
Peer map
U.S. retail brokerage and wealth platforms
U.S. providers of custody, self-directed securities trading, cash services and investment advice to individual investors. Client wealth is an asset pool, not annual platform revenue; fund-only asset management and institutional custody are outside this service definition.
- Charles Schwab
- Fidelity
- Vanguard
- Morgan Stanley / E*TRADE
- Interactive Brokers
- Robinhood
| Stocks | Moat | Gross m. | Op. m. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCHW | 83 | – | – | |
| Industry median | 9 | 56 | – | – |
| Sector median | 49 | 73 | 61.3% | 34.1% |
| All stocks median | 398 | 76 | 52.9% | 19.6% |
Moat medians cover every stock. Margin medians count only stocks with collected numbers and need at least three.
Drivers & risks
- Interest rates strongly affect cash sorting, deposit funding costs, securities repricing and margin-loan revenue; cuts can lower asset yields while reducing funding costs.
- Equity and bond prices strongly affect assets and asset-based fees. Core inflows distinguish client asset gathering from valuation gains.
- Trading activity rises or falls with volatility and investor engagement; it can move differently from asset prices.
- Household savings, employment, ageing and retirement rollovers affect investable balances and advice demand over the economic cycle.
- Direct currency and commodity-input exposure is limited for U.S. domestic platforms. Inflation affects technology, service and wage costs more than physical inputs.
- Price competition and clients using several platforms limit fee increases, even for a large incumbent.
- Clients can move cash to money funds or Treasuries, reducing cheap funding; off-balance-sheet sweep economics also depend on bank counterparties.
- Falling markets reduce asset-based fees and collateral values. Credit losses, liquidity stress and capital requirements can constrain growth or buybacks.
- Cash-sweep disclosures, payment for order flow, best execution, fiduciary standards and bank regulation can change revenue or compliance costs.
- Outages, fraud, cyber incidents and poor service can damage trust; foreign-exchange and inflation effects remain secondary to market and rate risk.
Bulls & bears
Can Schwab turn organic asset gathering and advice adoption into durable earnings while keeping client funding cheap and capital strong?
Arguments
What to watch
- 1Quarterly core net new client assets and active accounts
- 2Retail advice assets versus independent-adviser custody assets
- 3Segment revenue and non-interest expense
- 4Bank deposits, transactional sweep cash and short-term funding
- 5Net interest revenue and comparable rate sensitivity
- 6Consolidated and AOCI-adjusted Tier 1 leverage ratios
- 7Adviser retention and migration, if disclosed
Next check: October 15, 2026 Fall Business Update, then Q3 results and Form 10-Q; compare core flows, funding and capital before changing the moat view.
Sources: company filings and dated sources collected for Find My Moat; market cap as of Oct 2, 2026. Not investment advice.
Free to reuse, commercially too, with a credit link. See the data license.
Moat Score 83/100 by <a href="https://www.findmymoat.com/stocks/XNYS:SCHW">Find My Moat</a> (as of September 2026)Request update
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