Mar 31, 2020

Charles Schwab Q1 2020 Earnings Report

Charles Schwab's financial performance was impacted by a challenging economic environment, including expenses related to acquisitions and the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite market volatility, the company saw strong client activity and growth in core net new assets.

Key Takeaways

Charles Schwab reported a net income of $795 million for Q1 2020, a decrease of 18% compared to Q1 2019. The diluted earnings per share were $0.58, down 16% year-over-year. The company experienced strong client activity, including record core net new assets and new brokerage accounts, but results were impacted by market volatility and expenses related to pending acquisitions and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Net income for the first quarter of 2020 was $795 million, down 18% year-over-year.

Diluted earnings per share were $0.58, a 16% decrease from the same quarter last year.

Clients entrusted Schwab with $73.2 billion in core net new assets during the quarter, a 42% increase year-over-year.

The company handled a peak of 4.0 million trades on March 12th, with daily average trades up 217% year-over-year for March.

Total Revenue
$2.62B
Previous year: $2.72B
-3.9%
EPS
$0.62
Previous year: $0.69
-10.1%
Core Net New Assets
$73.2B
Previous year: $51.7B
+41.6%
New Brokerage Accounts
609K
Active Brokerage Accounts
12.74M
Previous year: 11.79M
+8.1%
Gross Profit
$2.62B
Previous year: $2.72B
-3.9%
Cash and Equivalents
$68.5B
Previous year: $32.6B
+110.4%
Free Cash Flow
$9.96B
Previous year: -$2.73B
-464.4%
Total Assets
$371B
Previous year: $283B
+31.1%

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab Revenue by Segment

Forward Guidance

Charles Schwab is focused on technology, client value, and balance sheet management.

Positive Outlook

  • Ongoing investments in scale and efficiency
  • Client value
  • Availability of and enrollment in advisory solutions
  • Financial strength
  • Balance sheet management

Challenges Ahead

  • Market volatility
  • General market conditions, including the level of interest rates, equity valuations, and trading activity
  • Failure of the parties to satisfy the closing conditions in the agreements for the pending acquisitions in a timely manner or at all
  • The scope and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken by governmental authorities to contain the spread of the virus and the economic impact
  • The company’s ability to manage expenses

Revenue & Expenses

Visualization of income flow from segment revenue to net income