- Company name
- State Street
- Sector
- Custody bank and asset management
- About
- State Street Corporation (State Street) is a bank holding company based in Boston that serves institutional investors. Investment Servicing provides custody, fund accounting, administration and software, such as the Charles River and Alpha platforms. Investment Management runs index funds, ETFs and cash funds. Markets sells foreign exchange trading and securities finance. State Street earns servicing fees, management fees, FX trading, securities finance, software fees and net interest income. At September 30, 2026, assets under custody and administration were $59.2 trillion, assets under management were $6.3 trillion, total assets were $403.3 billion and deposits were $311.7 billion. In Q3 2026, total revenue was $4,004 million and net income was $1,090 million. The headcount was 51,119. State Street's shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Ron O'Hanley is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
- Thesis
- State Street trades above its intrinsic value because investors pay for its fee growth and high return on equity, even though it is a custody bank whose profit follows market levels, interest rates and fund flows. About three quarters of revenue is fees, and servicing and management fees rise with the value of assets, so a fall in equity markets lowers profit. Net interest income depends on rates and on deposit mix. For the price to hold, three things must be true. Fee revenue must grow by about 13% to 14% and net interest income by 15% to 16% in 2026 while expenses grow by 8% to 8.5%, so that operating leverage stays above 500 basis points. State Street must reach its medium-term targets of a 35% pre-tax margin and a return on tangible common equity in the mid-20s, with a CET1 ratio near 11% and a total payout ratio near 80%. And new business must install on time: $332 million of servicing fee revenue and $2.98 trillion of assets under custody are waiting to be installed, and the first Wealth Services mandate and the Santander CACEIS Latam purchase must add revenue. The Q4 2026 report, expected in mid-January 2027, and the next quarters are the tests.
- Risks
- Fees follow market levels. The 2026 outlook assumes that global equity markets stay flat from current levels, so a fall in markets would lower servicing and management fees. Cash funds had net outflows of $62 billion in Q3 2026.
Net interest income depends on rates, deposits and the mix of funding. The net interest margin was 1.12% in Q3 2026, down 1 basis point from Q2. Lower rates or a shift of deposits to costlier products would cut income.
Expenses rose 8% in Q3 2026, and information systems cost rose 15%. State Street spends on technology and growth projects, and slower revenue would cut operating leverage.
Capital is close to State Street's own level. The CET1 ratio was 11.0%, and accumulated other comprehensive loss was $1,624 million. A payout ratio near 80% leaves little room if losses on securities grow or risk-weighted assets rise.
New business must be installed on time and the CACEIS Latam purchase needs regulatory approval. Delays would postpone the $332 million of servicing fee revenue waiting to be installed.
- Balance sheet
- State Street had total assets of $403.3 billion at September 30, 2026, funded mostly by deposits of $311.7 billion. Long-term debt was $25.1 billion, short-term borrowings were $0.9 billion and repurchase agreements were $0.4 billion. Total shareholders' equity was $28,710 million, which includes about $4.1 billion of preferred stock after the Series L issue in August 2026. Goodwill was $8,094 million and other intangible assets were $763 million. The standardized CET1 ratio was 11.0%, with CET1 capital of $15.4 billion and risk-weighted assets of $141 billion. The Tier 1 leverage ratio was 5.5%, the supplementary leverage ratio was 6.4% and the liquidity coverage ratio was about 106%. Accumulated other comprehensive loss was $1,624 million. State Street has repurchased $3.7 billion of the $5.0 billion authorized under its 2024 program. There were 272,828,262 common shares outstanding at September 30, 2026.
As of Sep 30, 2026.
- Checkpoints
- Oct 14, 2026: Q3 2026 results: margin and operating leverage. Passed. Watch: A pre-tax margin near 35% and operating leverage of 500 basis points or more pass; a lower margin or less leverage fails. Outcome: The pre-tax margin was 34.6%, and operating leverage was 531 basis points.
Jan 15, 2027 (estimate): Q4 2026 results: fees and expenses against the outlook. Pending. Watch: Full-year fee revenue growth of 13% or more with expense growth of 8.5% or less passes; slower fee growth or faster expense growth fails.
2029 (estimate): Medium-term targets. Pending. Watch: A pre-tax margin of 35% and a return on tangible common equity in the mid-20s, with a CET1 ratio near 11%, pass; lower returns fail.
- Recent events
- Oct 20, 2026: State Street issued $750 million of fixed-to-floating rate senior notes due 2037 in a public offering.
Oct 14, 2026: State Street reported Q3 2026 results. Diluted EPS was $3.69, up 33%, and net income was $1,090 million. Total revenue was $4,004 million, up 13%, with fee revenue of $3,140 million, up 11%, and net interest income of $864 million, up 21%. Expenses rose 8% to $2,620 million. The pre-tax margin was 34.6%, the return on tangible common equity was 25.1%, and operating leverage was 531 basis points. Assets under custody and administration rose 15% to $59.2 trillion.
Oct 14, 2026: State Street raised its 2026 outlook: fee revenue up about 13% to 14% (from 12% to 13%), net interest income up about 15% to 16% (from 14% to 15%), and expenses up about 8% to 8.5% (from about 8%), with more than 500 basis points of operating leverage. In the same report it said it agreed to buy the Santander CACEIS Latam Securities Services joint venture, subject to approvals, and won its first Wealth Services mandate with a large US registered investment adviser.
Oct 14, 2026: State Street returned $651 million to common shareholders in Q3 2026: $400 million of share repurchases and $251 million of dividends, or $0.92 per share. The CET1 ratio was 11.0%, and the liquidity coverage ratio was about 106%.
Aug 12, 2026: State Street issued 500,000 depositary shares, each one hundredth of a share of Series L fixed rate reset non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock, to raise $500 million.
Jul 16, 2026: State Street reported Q2 2026 results with diluted EPS of $3.65 and a return on tangible common equity of 25.5%. It set medium-term targets of a 35% pre-tax margin and a return on tangible common equity in the mid-20s, over a horizon of three to five years.