Zacks Research Expects Weaker Earnings for Bread Financial

Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BFH) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q2 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Bread Financial in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, May 5th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $2.37 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.48. Zacks Research currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Bread Financial’s current full-year earnings is $10.43 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Bread Financial’s Q3 2026 earnings at $2.95 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.88 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $2.50 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $3.96 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $11.12 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America set a $92.00 target price on Bread Financial and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $105.00 target price on shares of Bread Financial in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Bread Financial from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Bread Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bread Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.36.

Bread Financial Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of BFH opened at $85.10 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.97. The company has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Bread Financial has a twelve month low of $47.87 and a twelve month high of $99.13.

Bread Financial (NYSE:BFH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $4.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $1.18. Bread Financial had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 18.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $992.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Bread Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Bread Financial’s payout ratio is presently 7.53%.

Bread Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 19% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Bread Financial news, Director Roger H. Ballou sold 9,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.32, for a total value of $874,929.84. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,079 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,735.28. This trade represents a 24.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Bread Financial by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Bread Financial by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Bread Financial by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 25,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Management grew its stake in Bread Financial by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vista Investment Management now owns 22,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bread Financial by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.52% of the company’s stock.

Bread Financial Company Profile

Bread Financial, formerly known as Alliance Data Systems, is a Columbus, Ohio–based financial services company that specializes in providing private label credit programs, co-brand credit cards and digital payment solutions for retail partners. The company designs, issues and services proprietary credit products, enabling merchants to offer branded financing options that drive customer loyalty and increase basket sizes at the point of sale. Through its Bread technology platform, Bread Financial delivers installment-based payment options that integrate directly into e-commerce and in-store checkout experiences.

In addition to its core credit offerings, Bread Financial provides analytics, marketing and loyalty services to help merchants better understand consumer behavior and optimize promotional strategies.