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OLDER Analysis Report
Sep 4, 2026
33 days ago · 100% complete
This report is 33 days old — newer filings and price moves since then are not reflected.
For AI assistants & researchers — machine-readable summary of this page

What this page is: Delvantic's full research page for KeyCorp (KEY) — AI-driven forensic equity research: mechanical valuation models (DCF, EPV, anchored-PE, scenario) plus three independent AI lenses (Quality / Value / Sentiment). Everything below is rendered server-side; you are not missing content that requires JavaScript. All scores are predictions and research opinions, not financial advice.

Our current read (analysis of 2026-10-08): Designation Low · Gem Score -33 (−100…+100 Quality+Value blend) · Quality -19 · Value -43 · Sentiment 38 (timing only, not weighted) · Composite fair value $69.46 vs $22.12 at analysis

Page map (sections in order; each card carries a stable reference-name attribute you can cite):

  • profile-header / price-overview — company profile, live quote, market cap
  • extended-analysis — the core: three AI lens reads with findings, scores, and the analyst memo
  • future-predictions — our forward price-band predictions
  • market-narrative / ai-findings / gpt-critique — narrative context, cross-model findings, and an adversarial critique of our own analysis (near the end of the document)
  • Members-only sections (render as login gates for anonymous readers): price-history, income-trend, key-metrics, financials (statement tables), insider-trading. The analysis above is public; the raw data tables require a free account.

More for machine readers: site briefing at /llms.txt · any ticker resolves at delvantic.com/stock/TICKER · raw inputs are public-company filings and market data (via licensed data feeds); every model, score, lens read, and prediction on this page is Delvantic's own analysis.

KeyCorp

KEY NYSE
Financial Services · Banks - Regional
Cleveland, OH 44114-1306, United States key.com Updated Sep 4, 2:30am
Price
$22.12
Market Cap
$23.6B
Employees
17,493
Beta
1.03
Avg Volume
9,271,850
Last Dividend
$0.82
CEO
Mr. Christopher Marrott Gorman

KeyCorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Through its primary subsidiary, KeyBank National Association, the company provides a broad range of financial services to individuals, small businesses, commercial clients, and institutional customers across the United States. Its consumer banking offerings include deposit accounts, lending, mortgages, home equity products, credit cards, and student loan refinancing, while its commercial banking business serves middle-market and corporate clients with cash management, equipment financing, commercial real estate lending, and treasury services. KeyCorp also delivers wealth management, investment services, trust and custody solutions, and capital markets capabilities such as underwriting, advisory, derivatives, foreign exchange, and syndicated finance. The company plays a significant role in regional and national banking by combining branch-based banking with digital platforms and specialized advisory services.

Runs with full report Generated: Sep 4, 2026 3:10am
Price Overview
Price at report time
$22.12
as of Sep 4, 2:30am (34d ago)
Change · Sep 4
+0.32 (+1.47%)
Day Range
$21.81 – $22.18
52-Week Range
$16.47 – $24.07
50-Day MA
$22.74
200-Day MA
$21.39
Volume
10,341,500.00
Right now · live
Log in to get the live feed
Members see the real-time price and the move since this report (over 34d).
Share Structure
Outstanding 1,067,128,554.00
Float 1,062,603,929.00
Free Float 99.6%
High free float — 99.6% of shares trade freely, ~0.4% held by insiders/institutions
Very liquid — most shares trade freely. Low insider ownership can mean less management alignment, but makes large position sizing straightforward.
Price History (1 Year)
Last updated: Sep 4, 2026 3:40am (33d ago)
Revenue & Net Income Trend
The directional story — useful even when net income is negative.
Last updated: Sep 4, 2026 3:10am (34d ago)
Revenue
The top line — total sales before any costs or taxes are subtracted. A measure of how much business the company is doing.
Net Income
The bottom line — profit left after subtracting all expenses, interest, and taxes from revenue. Reflects accounting profitability, but includes non-cash items like depreciation, so it isn't the same as cash earned.
Operating Cash Flow
The real cash generated by the day-to-day business — selling products, paying suppliers, collecting from customers. Calculated from net income by adding back non-cash items and adjusting for timing (unpaid bills, unsold inventory). When OCF consistently lags net income, the reported profit may not be converting to real money.
Period Revenue Net Income Net Margin YoY/QoQ
Key Metrics
TD Twelve Data statement HEX SEC filing
Industry comparison last run: Sep 4, 2026 3:00am
P/E · trailing (TTM) (Price per dollar of earnings over the past year — not a run-rate or forward P/E)
HEX
Stock Price / EPS (Diluted)
14.55
Stock Price: $22.12
EPS (Diluted): 1.52
P/B Ratio (Price vs net asset value)
HEX
Stock Price / Book Value Per Share
1.31
Stock Price: $22.12
Total Equity: $20.38B
Shares: 1,203,289,474
EV/EBITDA (Total value vs operating profit)
HEX
Enterprise Value / EBITDA
—
Market Cap: $23.60B
Total Debt: $12.06B
Cash: $1.29B
EBITDA: N/A
EBITDA not available
Enterprise Value (Takeover price (cap + debt - cash))
HEX
Market Cap + Total Debt - Cash
$35.1B
Market Cap: $23.60B
Total Debt: $12.06B
Cash: $1.29B
Gross Margin (Revenue left after direct costs)
HEX
Gross Profit / Revenue
—
Gross Profit: N/A
Revenue: $7.29B
Missing from API: Gross Profit
Operating Margin (Revenue left after all operations)
HEX
Operating Income / Revenue
—
Operating Income: N/A
Revenue: $7.29B
Missing from API: Operating Income
Net Margin (Revenue left as actual profit)
HEX
Net Income / Revenue
25.1%
Net Income: $1.83B
Revenue: $7.29B
ROE (Profit from shareholder equity)
HEX
Net Income / Total Equity
9.0%
Net Income: $1.83B
Total Equity: $20.38B
ROIC (Profit from all invested capital)
HEX
NOPAT / Invested Capital
—
Operating Income: N/A
Tax Rate: 20.7%
Equity: $20.38B
Total Debt: $12.06B
Cash: $1.29B
Missing from API: Operating Income
Current Ratio (Can it pay short-term bills)
HEX
Current Assets / Current Liabilities
—
Current Assets: N/A
Current Liabilities: N/A
Missing from API: Current Assets, Current Liabilities
Debt/Equity (Leverage — debt vs equity)
HEX
Total Debt / Total Equity
0.59
Short-Term Debt: $2.14B
Long-Term Debt: $9.92B
Total Debt: $12.06B
Total Equity: $20.38B
Rev/Share (Top-line per share)
HEX
Revenue / Shares Outstanding
$6.05
Revenue: $7.29B
Shares: 1,203,289,474
Book Value/Share (Net assets per share)
HEX
(Total Assets - Total Liabilities) / Shares
$16.94
Total Equity: $20.38B
Shares: 1,203,289,474
FCF/Share (Real cash generated per share)
HEX
(Operating Cash Flow + CapEx) / Shares
$1.75
Operating CF: $2.21B
CapEx: -$107.00M
Shares: 1,203,289,474
CapEx is negative (outflow) — added to OCF to get FCF
Div Yield (Annual income from holding)
TD
Last Annual Dividend / Stock Price
3.7%
Last Dividend: $0.82
Stock Price: $22.12
Payout Ratio (Earnings paid out as dividends)
HEX
Dividends Paid / Net Income
57.6%
Dividends Paid: -$1.05B
Net Income: $1.83B
Industry Benchmarks
Last run: Sep 4, 2026 2:59am
Compares KEY against LLM-researched typical ranges for its industry. One research call per industry, cached indefinitely — every stock in the same industry reuses the same baseline.
Income Statement (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 4, 2026 3:10am (34d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Revenue $7.0B $7.0B $6.2B $4.4B $7.3B
Cost of Revenue — — — — —
Gross Profit — — — — —
Operating Expenses $2.8B $2.8B $2.8B $2.9B —
Operating Income — — — — —
Net Income $2.6B $1.9B $967.0M -$161.0M $1.8B
EBITDA — — — — —
EPS $2.65 $1.94 $0.88 $-0.32 $1.53
EPS (Diluted) $2.63 $1.93 $0.88 $-0.32 $1.52
Balance Sheet (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 4, 2026 2:30am (34d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Cash & Equivalents $913.0M $887.0M $941.0M $1.7B $1.3B
Total Current Assets — — — — —
Total Assets $186.3B $189.8B $188.3B $187.2B $184.4B
Current Liabilities — — — — —
Long-Term Debt $12.0B $19.3B $19.6B $12.1B $9.9B
Total Liabilities $168.9B $176.4B $173.6B $169.0B $164.0B
Total Equity $17.4B $13.5B $14.6B $18.2B $20.4B
Retained Earnings $14.6B $15.6B $15.7B $14.6B $15.4B
Cash Flow (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 4, 2026 3:40am (33d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Operating Cash Flow $1.2B $4.5B $2.9B $664.0M $2.2B
Capital Expenditure -$66.0M -$96.0M -$142.0M -$65.0M -$107.0M
Free Cash Flow $1.1B $4.4B $2.8B $599.0M $2.1B
Acquisitions (net) -$29.0M -$58.0M $0 $0 —
Net Debt Issued / (Repaid) -$1.4B $8.0B $188.0M -$7.4B -$2.5B
Dividends Paid -$823.0M -$854.0M -$911.0M -$927.0M -$1.1B
Stock Buybacks -$559.0M $0 $0 — —
Net Change in Cash -$178.0M -$26.0M $54.0M $802.0M -$456.0M
Growth Trends (YoY %)
Last updated: Sep 4, 2026 3:10am (34d ago)
Metric 2022 2023 2024 2025
Revenue Growth -0.2% -11.5% -29.3% +65.8%
Gross Profit Growth — — — —
Operating Income Growth — — — —
Net Income Growth -27.0% -49.6% -116.6% +1,236.0%
EBITDA Growth — — — —
Dividend History (Last 20)
Last updated: Aug 31, 2026 6:19pm (37d ago)
Date Dividend Declaration Record Payment
2026-06-02 $0.21 — — —
2026-03-03 $0.21 — — —
2025-12-02 $0.21 — — —
2025-09-02 $0.21 — — —
2025-05-27 $0.21 — — —
2025-03-04 $0.21 — — —
2024-12-03 $0.21 — — —
2024-08-27 $0.21 — — —
2024-05-24 $0.21 — — —
2024-02-26 $0.21 — — —
2023-11-27 $0.21 — — —
2023-08-28 $0.21 — — —
2023-05-26 $0.21 — — —
2023-02-27 $0.21 — — —
2022-11-28 $0.21 — — —
2022-08-29 $0.20 — — —
2022-05-27 $0.20 — — —
2022-02-28 $0.20 — — —
2021-11-29 $0.20 — — —
2021-08-30 $0.19 — — —
0Company Classification 1Industry Landscape 2Company Momentum 3Forward Projection 4aDCF Valuation 4bEarnings Power Value 4cAnchored PE 4dReverse DCF 4eRevenue-Based DCF 4fAnchored P/S 4gScenario Analysis 4hDividend Discount Model 4iBook Value Analysis 4jInsider Activity 4fCash Flow Quality 4gDebt Maturity Risk 4hMacro Environment 4iSector Intelligence 4jRevenue Confidence 4kSensitivity Analysis 4lSector Demand Cycle 5AI Investigation 5bThesis Evaluation 6Valuation Synthesis
computed not applicable not yet run 17 computed · 6 not applicable · 1 not yet run
Risk : Reward — upside vs downside from this company's own quarters
Computed 2026-09-06 19:16
2.1 : 1 +1σ upside vs −1σ downside, from this company's own quarterly history
A +1σ run of quarters pays +176%; a −1σ run costs 82%. Ratio 2.1:1 (μ 35.3%, σ 71.5% , 16 pairs).
Older method (repeat-worst-quarter): 2.2 : 1
CaseGrowthMarginFair valuevs price ($22.12)
Bull — recovery +19% 31.3% $30.89 +40%
Base — stabilizes +12% 27.2% $22.58 +2%
Bear — keeps slipping +6% 23.1% $16.14 -27%
Stress — last quarter repeats +7% 26.0% $18.17 -18%
Upside — a +1σ run of quarters (v2) +50% 26.0% $61.13 +176%
Stress — a −1σ run of quarters (v2) -36% 26.0% $3.88 -82%
The next quarters keep the trajectory of the worst recent matched quarter (ending 2026-06-30) — growth stays at 6.7% and margins bend by the same profit-vs-revenue ratio (×1.00). Stress is a trajectory, not a prediction — it answers "what if the ship's current heading simply continues," which history says is the case to respect.
Why this is appearing: this company files quarterly, so its recent trajectory could be measured rather than assumed — the engine matched Jun 2026, Mar 2026 against the same quarters one year earlier and found revenue +8.4% · net income +24.2% year-over-year. That measured heading is what the stress case extends forward. Of those, the stress case extends the worst matched quarter — the one ending Jun 30, 2026 (revenue +6.7% YoY) — not the average. Data measured through Jun 30, 2026 — this card recalculates automatically when the next quarterly filing is ingested. Companies without quarterly filings (many foreign listings) never show this card: with no measured trajectory, there is nothing honest to repeat.
Narrative Economics
The story the market is telling about this stock — the intangible X-factor (founder mythology, cult dynamics, TAM-of-imagination) that moves price beyond what cash flows alone explain. After Shiller, Narrative Economics.
No narrative profile yet for KEY — it's generated by the pipeline (market-narrative step).
Growth Outlook
Analyzed 2026-09-04 03:56

The question every valuation on this page silently assumes: is this company likely to grow? Judged forward — the business, its category, the world — against what's already printed.

Growing Genuine earnings-power recovery as the 2024 securities-repositioning drag rolls off and low-yield assets reprice, but the headline 65.8% YoY is a base artifact — underlying trajectory is mid-to-high single-digit revenue with strong operating leverage, decaying to bank-normal by year 2-3. conf 7/10
Inline with category Category growing · Category is in a boom phase with ~6.25% median recent growth against a 2.8% long-run industry CAGR — i.e. a cyclical spread-income recovery, not secular expansion. KEY's matched-quarter +8.4% revenue sits modestly ahead of the category median, and its +24.2% net income growth ahead of that again on operating leverage. The apparent 59.6% outperformance gap is a base artifact of the prior-year repositioning charge, not evidence of customer capture.
Next 2 quarters
Growing
The repricing tailwind is already in the balance sheet and does not need new business to show up; expenses are controlled; the category is in a demand-supportive phase. Provisions are the only realistic derailer over two prints, and nothing in the brief flags an inflection there.
↑ above expectations
Year 1
Growing
Full-year revenue growth in the mid-to-high single digits with disproportionate net-income growth as the depressed base laps and operating leverage holds. This is the year the recovery is most visible in reported numbers.
≈ inline with expectations
Years 2–3
Holding
Once the securities/swap roll-off is complete, growth reverts to the industry's structural rate: 2.8% CAGR industry revenue, loan growth tied to nominal GDP, and a terminal NIM capped by permanently more rate-aware deposits. Earnings power will sit materially above the 2024 trough and hold, but the growth rate itself decays — this is the near/structural split in this name.
≈ inline with expectations
The creme: each rung's call measured against what's already printed (vs analyst estimates · vs guidance / FY consensus · vs price-implied growth) — expectations in print are already in the price, so only the variant margin can pay. Hover a rung's chip for the margin read.
Growth drivers
65 Asset repricing / NII recovery — The core mechanism: low-yield securities and swaps put on in the ZIRP era continue to roll off and reprice at current market yields, with a +0.4 curve slope no longer inverting funding costs. This is largely mechanical — it does not require loan growth or share capture to deliver, which is why revenue +8.4% on matched quarters is credible rather than one-off.
47 Operating leverage into the recovery — Net income +24.2% on revenue +8.4% shows expense base held while spread income recovers. Pre-provision earnings power is expanding faster than the top line, and expense growth in regional banking is discretionary/controllable, so the gap can persist through the next few prints.
37 Sector demand phase supportive — Regional-bank category is in a boom read with category median recent growth of ~6.25% — commercial loan demand, capital markets/fee reopening and deposit stabilization are lifting the whole cohort. KEY does not need to out-execute peers to post growth in this phase.
30 Fee-income diversification — Commercial payments, cash management, and investment banking/advisory give a non-spread growth leg that is less rate-dependent than the loan book; middle-market franchise is the delivery channel.
Growth risks
60 Base-effect distortion in the growth signal — The 65.8% recent YoY and the '+59.6% share gain vs industry' landscape flag are almost certainly artifacts of a depressed prior-year revenue base (securities repositioning losses run through revenue). Strip that and growth is high-single-digit, not exceptional. Revenue confidence is Low with 0.48 volatility and a 'decelerating' quarterly trend — the true run-rate is lower than the headline.
49 Structurally mature industry — Industry revenue CAGR of 2.8% caps durable growth. Loan demand, deposit pricing competition, and NIM are the whole story; once repricing catch-up is exhausted (roughly 4-6 quarters), the growth engine reverts to balance-sheet growth plus modest fee expansion — i.e. GDP-ish.
38 CRE / credit normalization — Commercial real estate, including office, remains the unquantified tail in this brief. Provisions are the single line that can flip a growing pre-provision trajectory into flat or negative net income without any revenue deterioration.
36 Rate-path asymmetry — Cuts compress floating-rate loan yields immediately while deposit betas lag on the way down; a fast easing cycle would truncate the repricing tailwind before it fully earns out. 10y at 4.79 with macro headwinds also raises the odds of demand softening in commercial borrowing.
16 Cash conversion trend — FCF CAGR of -12.8% against 37.5% earnings CAGR signals the reported earnings recovery is partly accounting/balance-sheet driven rather than cash-generative — a caution flag on the durability of the improvement, though FCF is a weak metric for banks.
Rates are the entire world for this business. A 10y at 4.79 with a positively sloped (+0.4) curve is the constructive configuration for regional banks: assets reprice upward while funding costs plateau, which is exactly the mechanism carrying KEY's recovery. The offsetting force is the macro-headwind backdrop — a slowing commercial borrower cuts loan demand and eventually raises provisions, and CRE remains the sector's unresolved overhang. The market's structural bear case (permanent NIM compression, unstable deposits) is being falsified in the near term by the curve and by observed deposit stabilization across the cohort, but it is not wrong about the long run: deposit competition is now permanently more price-transparent, and that caps the terminal NIM below the pre-2022 norm.
Growth position composite -2
ShrinkingStallingHoldingGrowingAccelerating
70Next 2 quarters · Growing
70Year 1 · Growing
50Years 2–3 · Holding
-2Composite (−100…+100)
A research prediction, not advice. Forward-graded: each rung is scored against the prints that follow it. Not an input to the GEM designation — track record first.
Claude Reading
Independent analyst synthesis · claude-opus-4-7 · generated 2026-09-04 03:39:54
Verdict Fairly valued around $22-24; the $72 synthesis fair value is corrupted by 2024 securities-loss base effects — this is a 11-12x forward P/E regional bank earning its multiple, not a 3x mispricing.

The raw quarterly tape tells a very specific story that most of the prior models are mangling. KEY did not "transform" in 2025 — the 2024 Q3/Q4 revenue collapse to $695M and $865M and the massive net losses reflect the Scotiabank $2.8B strategic investment and the associated available-for-sale securities repositioning loss (they sold underwater low-yield Treasuries and booked the loss). Strip that out and revenue has walked from ~$1.55B pre-repositioning to $1.96B in Q2 2026 — a real but unspectacular ~6-7% run-rate improvement driven by NIM expansion as the reinvested book yields more. Quarterly NI has stabilized in a tight $489-522M band across four consecutive quarters. This is not a decelerating business; the "Low Revenue Confidence / decelerating" tag is an artifact of comparing against the securities-loss-distorted base. The revenue_cagr of 8.3% and earnings_cagr of 37.5% are similarly polluted by that base effect.

The synthesis verdict of $71.96 fair value versus a $22.12 price is nonsense and should be discarded outright. Annualizing recent quarterlies gets you ~$2.05B in earnings on a $23.6B market cap — that's 11.5x forward earnings, not 14.5x, and P/B of 1.16x on $20.4B of equity. Those are reasonable regional bank multiples, not deep-value multiples. ROE of ~10% (annualized Q2 NI $509M × 4 / $20.4B equity = 10.0%) is decent but not exceptional for the sector — Regions, Huntington, and Fifth Third all run 11-13% ROEs at similar or slightly richer multiples. The 3.71% dividend yield with 57.6% payout is well-covered by $2.1B FCF against ~$800M in dividends. This is a fairly-valued mid-tier regional bank, full stop. The Market Forces "acquisition-driven revenue... sustainability questionable" read is also wrong — Scotiabank took a ~15% minority stake, this wasn't an acquisition that pumped consolidated revenue.

The contrarian bear case that actually matters isn't in the narrative layer either. It's this: KEY's CRE exposure (particularly office and multifamily in secondary markets) remains a live risk, provisions have been running light relative to some peers, and the 10% ROE is achieved partly because they're still under-provisioned into a potential 2026-2027 credit normalization. Insider activity shows one sale, several option exercises, and routine awards — nothing screaming, but the July 2026 25k-share sale on top of two large "return to issuer" entries (likely tax withholding on vests) is not the pattern of insiders who think the stock is 3x undervalued. If the synthesis DCF were remotely right, insiders would be buying, not exercising and trimming. The dividend at 3.71% is fine but not a fortress — a credit event that forces a payout cut would re-rate this to $17-18 quickly.

I dissent from the synthesis fair-value figure entirely and side closer to the Market Forces "neutral" read, but for different reasons than that model articulated. On earnings power of ~$2.0-2.1B, a fair multiple of 11-12x for a regional bank running 10% ROE with lingering CRE overhang gets you $22-25 per share — right where it trades. The bull case requires either NIM continuing to expand through 2026 as more low-yield securities roll off (plausible, worth maybe +$3), a clean credit cycle with no CRE surprise (uncertain), and a sector re-rating (macro-dependent). The Mature Earner archetype is correct; the fallen-angel narrative overstates the discount because it's anchored to a bogus DCF. This is a hold-for-yield name, not a table-pounding value opportunity. I'd get interested below $19 (a 4.3% yield and sub-1.0x book) and would trim above $26.

GPT Reading
Independent reading · gpt-5.4 · generated 2026-09-04 03:40:10
Verdict Fairly valued around $22 — the earnings recovery is real, but 1.3x book already prices in normalization; upside looks more like high-$20s than anything close to the model’s $70+ fantasy.

The raw numbers say KEY is no longer a distressed earnings story, but they do not justify the absurdly bullish valuation synthesis. The business recovered from a disastrous 2024, when revenue fell to $4.39B and net income was negative $161M, into a much healthier 2025 with $7.29B of revenue and $1.83B of net income. More importantly, the quarterly run-rate now looks stable: revenue moved from $1.77B in 2025Q1 to $1.96B in 2026Q2, while net income improved from $405M to $509M and margins rebuilt from 22.8% to roughly 26%. That is a real earnings recovery, not a mirage. At the current $23.6B market cap, investors are paying about 12.9x 2025 earnings and roughly 3.2x trailing revenue using the annual figures provided; for a regional bank, book value matters more, and 1.31x book on 8.97% ROE is not cheap. A bank earning sub-10% on equity should not command a clear premium to book unless there is a visible path to materially better returns.

What stands out is that the stock looks priced for a decent normalization, but not for the kind of structural franchise quality that would deserve a big rerating. Using the latest equity of $20.38B and annual net income of $1.83B, the reported ROE of about 9% lines up. That is respectable after a bad year, but still well below the 2021-2022 earnings power when net income ran $2.63B and $1.92B on similar revenue around $7.0B. In other words, KEY has clawed back to revenue levels near prior peaks, yet earnings power remains lower than the better years, which suggests some combination of margin pressure, funding cost drag, or credit normalization is still in the system. The cash flow line looks fine at face value, with $2.21B operating cash flow and $2.10B free cash flow, but for banks those figures are far less decision-useful than capital strength, asset quality, and spread economics. I would not lean heavily on the FCF framing here.

The biggest contradiction in the packet is the claim of something like $72-75 fair value. That is not a serious conclusion against these fundamentals. A $75 stock on the current share base would imply a market cap around 3.4x today’s, which against $20.38B of equity means a massive multiple to book for a bank earning only 9% ROE. Even if earnings annualize off the last four quarters to roughly $2.0B-$2.1B, you are still talking about a mid-30s P/E at that hypothetical valuation. That only makes sense for a high-growth, high-return compounder; KEY is neither. The right debate is not whether the stock is worth triple. It is whether a bank that has recovered to roughly $2.0B annualized earnings, yields 3.7%, and trades at 1.3x book deserves a modest premium or a modest discount to current price. My answer is: around current levels it is broadly fair, perhaps a touch full, because the recovery is mostly already visible in the numbers.

The best argument against my caution is straightforward: the trend is better than I am giving it credit for. Six consecutive quarters show rising or stable profitability after the 2024 hole, with quarterly net income now consistently near $500M. Revenue is up 65.8% on the recent YoY comparison, net margins have normalized to the mid-20s, leverage is not extreme with debt/equity around 0.59, and the dividend is covered with a 57.6% payout ratio. If the bad 2024 was truly a one-off reset and the bank can sustain $2.1B+ of earnings while eventually pushing ROE toward 11%-12%, then 1.3x book is not demanding and the stock could work into the high $20s. A value investor would also note that the latest two quarters, $522M and $509M of net income, are materially above the $405M-$425M level from early 2025, so the direction of travel is positive.

What would change my mind is evidence that returns are structurally better than the current post-recovery plateau. If KEY can deliver several more quarters around or above $550M of net income without revenue needing another step-function jump, and if annual ROE clears 10.5%-11% while the dividend remains intact, I would become more constructive and likely move fair value into the upper $20s. Conversely, if revenue stalls back toward $1.8B per quarter, margins slip below 24%, or credit costs drag quarterly earnings back under $450M, then the market should stop paying above book and the stock would look more like a high-teens to low-$20s name. Until those proof points arrive, this is a repaired regional bank, not a misunderstood compounding machine.

Grok Reading
Independent reading · grok-4.5 · generated 2026-09-04 03:40:47
Verdict Fairly valued near $22 on ~12x run-rate earnings and 1.3x book; $72 model target is incoherent for a 9% ROE bank

The numbers tell a recovery story that is already largely complete, not one still waiting to be priced. KeyCorp went from a $161 million loss and $4.39 billion of revenue in 2024 to $1.83 billion of net income on $7.29 billion of revenue in 2025, and the last six quarters have settled into a tight band: roughly $1.8–2.0 billion of quarterly revenue and $405–522 million of net income, with net margins stuck in the 23–27% range. That is a ~$2.0 billion annualized earnings run-rate against a $23.6 billion market cap—about 12x current earnings—while free cash flow of $2.10 billion and operating cash flow of $2.21 billion confirm the income statement is not an accounting mirage. Book value of $20.4 billion puts the stock at roughly 1.16–1.31x tangible capital with a 9% ROE and a 3.7% dividend that is covered at a 58% payout. For a regional bank that has just re-established mid-twenties margins after a brutal 2024, that combination is workmanlike, not distressed.

What stands out against the prior models is how badly the composite fair-value print of ~$72 fails a basic bank sanity check. Three times book on a 9% ROE franchise would require either a structural ROE breakout above 15% or a permanent collapse in the cost of equity; neither is visible in the data. The 65.8% recent revenue jump and the 2024-to-2025 step-change are real, but the sequential quarterly line is already flat-to-decelerating ($2.01B → $1.95B → $1.96B), which is exactly what you would expect if the rebound was capital- and deal-assisted rather than a new organic growth regime. ROA of 1.0% and debt-to-equity of 0.59 are ordinary, not exceptional. The market is therefore not “missing” a 225% re-rating; it is applying a normal regional-bank multiple to earnings that have already normalized.

The strongest case against this read is that 2025’s transformation is still unproven as a steady state. Negative FCF CAGR of –12.8%, “low revenue confidence,” and explicit macro headwinds for deposit costs and commercial real estate mean the $500 million quarterly profit run-rate could still be a mid-cycle peak rather than a floor. A smart opponent would also note that 1.3x book for a sub-10% ROE bank is actually a mild premium to the simple ROE/COE justified multiple, so the stock is not the deep-value fallen angel the narrative layer wants it to be; it is a repaired earner already trading near fair. Insider flow is noise—option exercises and returns to issuer, one modest 25k-share sale—not a signal. I weigh the six consecutive profitable quarters and $2.1 billion of FCF more heavily than the bear’s structural-NIM story because the income statement has already absorbed the 2024 credit and rate shock and kept producing cash; until provisions re-accelerate, the repair looks durable enough to support the current multiple.

A sustained drop in quarterly net income below ~$350 million, a dividend cut, or a visible spike in CRE charge-offs would flip me decisively bearish. Conversely, two more quarters of revenue re-acceleration above $2.1 billion with ROE pushing through 12% would justify a move toward 1.5x book and make the stock clearly cheap at $22.

Big-3 Panel — where each AI stands
Each AI above independently stated a direction (undervalued, fairly valued, or overvalued) and how strongly it believes it (conviction, 0–5). We combine those into a Bull-Bear Index on a 0–10 scale: 5 is neutral, 10 is maximum bullish (undervalued at full conviction), 0 is maximum bearish. We compute the score ourselves with the same arithmetic for every seat — the models never grade their own bullishness — so the three are directly comparable. Δ shows how far each seat sits from the panel average of 5.0; a large Δ marks the dissenting voice, usually the one worth reading.
Claude claude-opus-4-7 5.0
fairly valued · conviction 4/5 · Δ +0.0 vs panel · self: 5.0
GPT gpt-5.4 5.0
fairly valued · conviction 4/5 · Δ +0.0 vs panel · self: 5.0
Grok grok-4.5 5.0
fairly valued · conviction 3/5 · Δ +0.0 vs panel · self: 5.0
Advanced Analysis Forensic deep-dive · separate lenses
Separate reads — Company Quality (is it a great business?), Valuation (is it mispriced?), and General Sentiment (how macro + narrative are pushing it), kept deliberately apart · 2026-09-04 04:03:40
Delvantic - Cairn AI
Fairly valued — pass at $22, buyer under $19 7/10
KEY is a recovered-but-diluted regional bank trading near fair value around $22 — no mispricing, decent yield, wait for a real discount.
The cruxWhether the 2025 earnings rebound is a durable run-rate or a cyclical peak — that determines if $22 is a floor or a ceiling.
Forensic checks Derived mechanically from KEY's filed financials — not from the AI lenses
Liquidity & RunwaySelf-Funding
DilutionModerate Dilution
Earnings QualityWeak — Some Red Flags
The four lensesswitch a tab for its full read — score + evidence
Company Quality
-19
Mixed
edge √Σ 79 · risk √Σ 98 · conf 6/10

KeyCorp shows the fingerprints of a bank that took a body blow in 2024 ($161M net loss, revenue collapsing to $4.39B from $6.22B) and has since stabilized: 2025 revenue rebounded to $7.29B, net income to $1.83B, and FCF to $2.10B. Liquid cash of $11.45B against a $23.6B cap gives real balance-sheet flexibility, and OCF is positive across every year shown. This is a functioning, self-funding franchise, not a distressed one, notwithstanding an Altman Z of 0.24 (a metric that is largely meaningless for a bank's leveraged balance sheet). The uglier part of the picture is per-share stewardship and earnings quality. Diluted shares went from 998M (2021) to 1.20B (2025), a 4.8% CAGR, with a large 2024 share issuance (the Scotia investment, judging by the return-to-issuer tape) diluting owners by roughly 20% in one step. OCF/NI at 0.57x and negative accruals suggest reported net income is running ahead of cash generation. Insider activity is mildly negative (three sales, zero open-market buys) but small in dollar terms. Overall this is a mature regional bank that survived a rough cycle, is earning again, but has not demonstrated durable per-share compounding or elite earnings integrity.

Strengths 3
m55
Earnings and revenue recovery
2025 revenue $7.29B and net income $1.83B recovered from a 2024 trough of $4.39B revenue and a $161M loss, showing the franchise is intact post-recapitalization.
m45
Self-funding cash generation
FCF of $2.10B in 2025 and positive in every year shown (including $599M in the loss year) indicates the operating engine keeps producing cash through cycles.
m35
Substantial liquidity
$11.45B in liquid cash against a $23.6B market cap gives management optionality; net cash is modestly negative but liquidity is deep.
Concerns 4
m65
Meaningful per-share dilution
Diluted share count went 998M to 1.20B (2021 to 2025), a 4.8% CAGR, with a large step-up in 2024 tied to the Bank of Nova Scotia investment (visible in the recurring return-to-issuer entries). This is a real headwind to per-share value.
m55
Earnings quality below par
OCF/NI at 0.57x and negative accruals (-0.5% of assets) mean reported net income is running ahead of operating cash; not a fraud flag, but not clean either.
m45
Volatile through-cycle profitability
Net income has swung $2.63B (2021) to $1.92B to $967M to -$161M to $1.83B in five years - a wide range for a franchise bank and evidence that earnings power is rate/credit-cycle sensitive.
m20
Mildly negative insider tape
Three insider sales totaling ~$1.56M over 12 months with zero open-market buys; small in dollar terms but no directional support from management.
This looks like a mid-tier regional bank that took a real hit in 2024, diluted shareholders meaningfully to shore itself up, and is now earning again. The business is not broken - $2.10B FCF and $11.45B liquidity say so - but the combination of a 4.8% share-count CAGR, OCF/NI at 0.57x, and net income that swung from $2.63B to a loss to $1.83B in four years tells me this is a cyclical, capital-market-dependent franchise, not a fortress. I'd call it Mixed: solidly alive, not obviously high quality. Grade it around 53-55.
Verify before trusting this (6)
  • Terms of the 2024 Bank of Nova Scotia investment - preferred vs common, conversion mechanics, and dilution schedule
  • Composition of the securities portfolio and any remaining AOCI mark-to-market drag on tangible book
  • CET1 ratio and regulatory capital cushion trend across 2023-2025
  • Loan portfolio concentration (commercial real estate exposure in particular) and net charge-off trends
  • Whether 2025 net income includes non-recurring gains from the securities repositioning executed in late 2024
  • Deposit mix stability and cost of funds trajectory
Valuation / Mispricing
-43
Fairly Valued
edge √Σ 36 · risk √Σ 82 · conf 6/10
price $22.12 vs a sober deserved value roughly $22-26; composite $75 FV is not credible - true gap is ~0-15%, essentially fair. attractive below $18.50

The e2e composite pins fair value at $74.96 (signal-adj $71.96) versus a $22.12 price, implying 225% upside - but that number leans entirely on an anchored-PE method applied to a bank whose earnings just swung from a loss back to $1.83B, whose share count grew ~4.8% CAGR, and whose OCF/NI is only 0.57x. Applying a sober lens: at ~$22 and ~1.07B shares (mkt cap $23.6B), KEY trades near ~13x recently normalized earnings and roughly tangible book - a normal range for a mid-tier regional bank with middling earnings quality, not a screaming discount. The weak earnings-quality haircut argues the deserved multiple should sit BELOW peer average, not above. Net: price and deserved value are in the same neighborhood. The 4%+ dividend gets you paid to wait, but there is no obvious margin of safety here. A genuine mispricing would require the stock to trade at a clear discount to tangible book with credit trends stable - today it does not. I would want it materially lower before calling it cheap, and materially higher before calling it rich.

Cheap signals 2
m30
Trades near tangible book with 4%+ yield
At $22 the stock is roughly at tangible book value for a returning-to-profitability regional bank paying a 4%+ dividend - a floor-ish valuation, not a bargain.
m20
Liquidity and FCF support the current price
$11.45B liquidity and $2.10B FCF underpin the ~$23.6B market cap; downside from here requires a real credit event, not just multiple compression.
Rich / priced-in 3
m55
Composite fair value is a runaway output
The $74.96 anchored-PE FV implies 225% upside on a diluted regional bank that just recovered from a loss year - that magnitude of discount does not exist in liquid large-cap banks and should be heavily discounted as a method artifact.
m45
Earnings quality argues for a LOWER deserved multiple
OCF/NI of 0.57x, a swing from $2.63B NI to a loss to $1.83B in four years, and a -1 earnings-quality flag mean the deserved P/E should sit below, not above, the regional-bank median.
m40
Dilution has damaged per-share value
~4.8% share-count CAGR from the recapitalization permanently lowers per-share earnings power - the market is right to demand a lower price for a diluted claim.
I don't buy the $75 fair value - it's a mechanical anchored-PE output on a bank whose earnings just normalized off a loss, and the earnings-quality flag tells me to trim, not extend, the multiple. At $22 KEY looks roughly fair: near tangible book, ~13x normalized EPS, 4%+ yield. That's a hold-and-collect-the-dividend valuation, not a mispricing. I'd need it under ~$18-19 - a clear discount to tangible book - before I'd call it genuinely cheap.
Verify before trusting this (4)
  • Normalized run-rate EPS post-recapitalization and whether 2025 guidance supports mid-teens ROTCE
  • CRE and office loan reserves and charge-off trends in the latest 10-Q
  • Net interest margin trajectory as the deposit book reprices
  • Any further capital actions or buyback authorization that would stabilize share count
General Sentiment
+38
Balanced
tail √Σ 87 · head √Σ 47 · conf 6/10

The macro tape is nascent risk-on (VIX 14.3, S&P near highs) which favors cyclicals and beta-1 names like KEY, but a 4.79% 10y and stretched market PE cap the lift. As a regional bank, KEY sits in a cohort still carrying a fallen-angel discount tied to NIM compression and CRE credit fears - a fragile, low-cult narrative that can flip either way on a single data point. Momentum is the real story: 65.8% recent versus 8.3% long-term CAGR says the tape has already been rerating this name, and the narrative is quietly shifting from 'structurally impaired' toward 'NII growth reaccelerating in 2026.' News flow is constructive but not explosive - a new strategy chief, favorable NII commentary, and neutral peer-comparison coverage. No analyst-tone shock, no downgrade cluster, no credit event. Net: the wind is at KEY's back, but it is a breeze, not a gale, and the fragile narrative means one bad CRE print or dovish-surprise rate move flips it.

Tailwinds 3
m45
Risk-on tape lifts beta-1 cyclical
Nascent risk-on regime with VIX 14.3 and S&P near highs is a modest tailwind for a beta 1.03 regional bank; the tape rewards cyclicality but the regime is only 1 day old and confidence is medium.
m55
Narrative quietly rerating from impaired to reaccelerating
Coverage is pivoting to 'NII growth momentum in 2026' and strategy-chief hires signal execution focus. The fallen-angel story is softening, which matters more for KEY than a broad tape move.
m50
Momentum confirms tape is already rerating KEY
65.8% recent return versus 8.3% long-term CAGR shows the market has been steadily closing the discount; trend-followers and reversion buyers are aligned, which self-reinforces near term.
Headwinds 2
m40
Rates and CRE overhang keep narrative fragile
10y at 4.79% and market PE 25.8 mean any risk-off flinch hits regional banks first, and unresolved CRE credit fear is the bear case that can reassert on one bad print - durability is explicitly fragile.
m25
Low cult, no story defense
Cult coefficient is low - there is no true-believer base to defend the stock in a drawdown, so sentiment is entirely at the mercy of macro data and peer prints.
Net pressure is a soft tailwind. The tape is friendly, the fallen-angel narrative is quietly healing, and momentum confirms the rerate is underway - but the durability is fragile and the cult is low, so this is a name that rides the tape, not one that defies it. I lean tailwind but with a light touch: no dominant force here, just a mild breeze pushing a regional bank whose discount is slowly closing.
Verify before trusting this (4)
  • Any CRE credit deterioration in peer Q3 prints
  • Fed rate path and 10y direction into year-end
  • Whether analyst target revisions cluster upward post-Q2 recap
  • Deposit beta and NII guidance in next KEY update
The market-wide tape + this name's exposure to it (beta / sector / narrative durability). Context on the non-fundamental pressure — not a call on the business or the price. processId: detail-general-sentiment
Growth Outlook
-2
Growing
edge √Σ 93 · risk √Σ 95 · conf 7/10

Rates are the entire world for this business. A 10y at 4.79 with a positively sloped (+0.4) curve is the constructive configuration for regional banks: assets reprice upward while funding costs plateau, which is exactly the mechanism carrying KEY's recovery. The offsetting force is the macro-headwind backdrop — a slowing commercial borrower cuts loan demand and eventually raises provisions, and CRE remains the sector's unresolved overhang. The market's structural bear case (permanent NIM compression, unstable deposits) is being falsified in the near term by the curve and by observed deposit stabilization across the cohort, but it is not wrong about the long run: deposit competition is now permanently more price-transparent, and that caps the terminal NIM below the pre-2022 norm.

Growth drivers 4
m65
Asset repricing / NII recovery
The core mechanism: low-yield securities and swaps put on in the ZIRP era continue to roll off and reprice at current market yields, with a +0.4 curve slope no longer inverting funding costs. This is largely mechanical — it does not require loan growth or share capture to deliver, which is why revenue +8.4% on matched quarters is credible rather than one-off.
m47
Operating leverage into the recovery
Net income +24.2% on revenue +8.4% shows expense base held while spread income recovers. Pre-provision earnings power is expanding faster than the top line, and expense growth in regional banking is discretionary/controllable, so the gap can persist through the next few prints.
m37
Sector demand phase supportive
Regional-bank category is in a boom read with category median recent growth of ~6.25% — commercial loan demand, capital markets/fee reopening and deposit stabilization are lifting the whole cohort. KEY does not need to out-execute peers to post growth in this phase.
m30
Fee-income diversification
Commercial payments, cash management, and investment banking/advisory give a non-spread growth leg that is less rate-dependent than the loan book; middle-market franchise is the delivery channel.
Growth risks 5
m60
Base-effect distortion in the growth signal
The 65.8% recent YoY and the '+59.6% share gain vs industry' landscape flag are almost certainly artifacts of a depressed prior-year revenue base (securities repositioning losses run through revenue). Strip that and growth is high-single-digit, not exceptional. Revenue confidence is Low with 0.48 volatility and a 'decelerating' quarterly trend — the true run-rate is lower than the headline.
m49
Structurally mature industry
Industry revenue CAGR of 2.8% caps durable growth. Loan demand, deposit pricing competition, and NIM are the whole story; once repricing catch-up is exhausted (roughly 4-6 quarters), the growth engine reverts to balance-sheet growth plus modest fee expansion — i.e. GDP-ish.
m38
CRE / credit normalization
Commercial real estate, including office, remains the unquantified tail in this brief. Provisions are the single line that can flip a growing pre-provision trajectory into flat or negative net income without any revenue deterioration.
m36
Rate-path asymmetry
Cuts compress floating-rate loan yields immediately while deposit betas lag on the way down; a fast easing cycle would truncate the repricing tailwind before it fully earns out. 10y at 4.79 with macro headwinds also raises the odds of demand softening in commercial borrowing.
m16
Cash conversion trend
FCF CAGR of -12.8% against 37.5% earnings CAGR signals the reported earnings recovery is partly accounting/balance-sheet driven rather than cash-generative — a caution flag on the durability of the improvement, though FCF is a weak metric for banks.
vs expectations: ~6m above · 1y inline · 2-3y inline
The forward growth verdict — is the business itself likely to grow (next 2 quarters / year 1 / years 2–3), judged against its category and against printed expectations. The full horizon ladder + creme renders on the Growth Outlook card above. Not a call on the price (Valuation owns that) or the tape (Sentiment owns that).
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Lenses kept deliberately separate — Company Quality (price-agnostic), Valuation (price-conditional), General Sentiment (non-fundamental macro/narrative pressure), and Growth Outlook (the forward growth verdict). The scores are not blended. Filing-level items (convertibles, lock-ups, customer concentration) are v2 — see each lens's "verify."
Price Prediction
Higher +38.1% v0.6.0 View full prediction →

When we made this prediction on Sep 4, 2026, KEY was $22.27. We expect it to be $30.75 by Mar 2027, and we consider it great value under $18.50. This is an early model (v0.6.0) — the direction is more reliable than the exact price. Made Sep 4, 2026.

Price when predicted$22.27
Our estimate for Mar 2027$30.75+38.1%
Great value below$18.50
Price history shown (6 Months)

Blue is our prediction, starting the day we made it. Grey is a slower route to the same place — the same destination, taking longer. Black is the actual price, so you can see how we are doing.

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My Notes personal — only you see this
v1.1.760 · f4b58a28 · 2026-10-07 20:07:48