Buffett Brain · Research note
Score updated 20 Oct 2026 · analysis from 18 May 2026
PNC· Financial Services
The PNC Financial Services Group
PNC trades at 12x earnings with a 9.7% owner yield, but bank-level ROIC and thin interest coverage limit the Buffett upside.
Buffett fit
Weak fit
Owner
37
Durability
81
Management
51
Price
67
Score updated 20 Oct 2026 · analysis from 18 May 2026
Buffett's checklist
Each number against Buffett's bar, and where it ranks among Financial Services stocks in our database.
How much profit the business makes on each dollar invested in it. Higher is better.
What is left of each sale after the cost of making the product. A high number often means pricing power.
The cash the business earns for its owners, compared with the price of the whole company.
How fast sales grew each year over the last five years.
How many years of today's profit you pay for at today's price. Lower means cheaper.
How much the company owes compared with what it owns outright. Lower is safer.
The four pillars
How the business measures up on each of Buffett's four tests.
Owning PNC for a decade means owning a mid-Atlantic and Sunbelt deposit franchise that grinds out 12-14% through credit and rate cycles.
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Top-six US banks don't disappear, they consolidate. PNC will exist in 2036, the question is whether net interest margin and credit quality cooperate.
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Buying back 1.93% of shares per year while growing the franchise is exactly the discipline Buffett wants.
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of 12.1 and earnings yield of 8.25% look genuinely cheap for a top-tier US bank.
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For and against
The strongest points on each side, with the numbers behind them.
In its favor
6- 1 of 12.1 and earnings yield of 8.25% offer real value cushion
- 2Share count shrank 1.93% per year, genuine per-share
- 3EPS max decline of only -7.65% shows credit discipline through cycles
- 4Revenue CAGR of 12.31% reflects successful BBVA integration
Concerns
5- 1 TTM of 5.0% is low even for a bank
- 2Interest coverage of 0.82 is uncomfortable (though distorted by deposit-funding accounting)
- 3Net debt/EBITDA of 3.96 reflects normal bank but limits balance sheet flex
- 4Current ratio of 0.36 is normal for a bank but offers no liquidity buffer
Price history
$221+2.3%· 5-year return
Weekly closing prices. Touch or hover the line for a date.
The business
How the business works
PNC is a top-six US bank with strong commercial and middle-market lending franchises, anchored by the 2021 BBVA USA acquisition that expanded its footprint into the Sunbelt. of 71.88% and of 27.54% are normal for a deposit-funded bank with a healthy fee mix. The 12.31% 5-year revenue CAGR was juiced by the BBVA deal and the 2022-23 rate cycle; underlying growth is mid-single-digits. PNC compounded EPS at 6.94% per year while shrinking the share count 1.93% annually.
What other investors would say
The same company, judged by three other documented playbooks.
Keep researching
Similar companies in Financial Services
Questions about The PNC Financial Services Group
- Is The PNC Financial Services Group undervalued?
- Would Buffett buy The PNC Financial Services Group?
- How strong is The PNC Financial Services Group's competitive advantage?
- Is The PNC Financial Services Group financially healthy?
- Is The PNC Financial Services Group's dividend safe?
- Is The PNC Financial Services Group halal?
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