Christopher Gorman on commercial lending
From KeyCorp ($KEY) Q1 2026 Earnings Call · · Castify Earnings Call
“There's no question there's been excess capacity for some time. And I've talked about this at length that a properly graded commercial loan can't return its cost of capital. And there's been just a constant, you know, pressure on spreads and on structure. I think we may be, and I emphasize the word may, be at an inflection point on that trend.”
On , Christopher Gorman, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer at KeyCorp, spoke about commercial lending during KeyCorp ($KEY) Q1 2026 Earnings Call on Castify Earnings Call.
About Christopher Gorman
On KeyCorp’s Q1 2026 earnings call, Gorman reported broad-based growth across geographies and industries, with a 20% increase in the company’s backlog from year-end. He identified utilities and power, particularly related to renewables and AI data center buildouts, as areas of “huge opportunity,” and noted emerging traction in healthcare consolidation and commercial real estate transactional activity. Gorman stated that the company would continue running off $500 million to $600 million of residential mortgages per quarter. He also said KeyCorp’s capital priorities remain unchanged: supporting client growth, investing in people and technology, and returning capital to shareholders. Gorman reiterated a target of achieving a return on tangible common equity of 15% or better on a run-rate basis by the end of 2027, with half of the improvement expected from the mechanical lift of low-yielding asset repricing and the rest from business execution. In interviews and calls, Gorman characterized the consumer as being in “good shape” across credit, spending, and wealth metrics, and described commercial customers as “amazingly resilient” despite macroeconomic developments. He commented on the private credit market, saying his company has some exposure and feels good about it, but added that redemptions in private credit could give banks an “opportunity to reintermediate” some lending activity. Gorman also noted an improved regulatory environment focused on safety and soundness, and said KeyCorp had no direct exposure to two recent auto industry bankruptcies making headlines. He discussed investing in AI for wealth platforms, stating that many customers have “rather homogeneous” needs and that AI could help harvest more detailed information. On bank M&A, he described it as “pretty far down” the capital priorities list, with the company focused on a large organic opportunity and tuck-in deals for fee-based capabilities.