Josh Brown Backs Citizens Financial as CFG Targets 35% EPS Growth
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Jun 25
Josh Brown Backs Citizens Financial as CFG Targets 35% EPS Growth
1 articles · Updated · CNBC · Jun 25
Summary
Citizens Financial is Brown’s latest stock pick, with CFG up 21% year to date and six months after his earlier bullish call the case has, he said, become clearer.
35% expected EPS growth this year leads S&P 500 regional banks, after Citizens posted 47% year-over-year EPS growth in Q1 2026, record capital-markets fees and its best quarterly net income on record.
21% gains in CFG have outpaced the S&P 500’s 8% return and the financial sector’s 1% decline, while Brown argues a broader rally in regional banks signals healthy consumer borrowing, small-business demand and contained credit losses.
2026 guidance calls for 6% to 8% fee-income growth and 500 basis points of positive operating leverage, with an AI-driven efficiency plan targeting $450 million in pretax cost cuts by 2028.
At $69, CFG is pressing against $70 resistance after rebounding from the $57 area; Brown cited roughly $64 at the 50-day moving average as a key risk level for traders.