Capital One Financial Corporation
Financials · Consumer Finance
Structural: post-Discover, COF runs the #1 US credit card book (~$250B receivables) plus the Discover/PULSE network - the only domestic alternative to the $V / $MA duopoly. Vertical integration captures interchange that previously leaked to networks; management guides $2.7B run-rate synergies by 2027.
- Network ownership re-rates COF from card lender (8-10x P/E) toward payments hybrid (15-20x)
- Subprime card franchise has highest risk-adjusted NIM in US banking (~6-7%)
- Auto loan book stabilizing as used-car prices firm; 2023-24 vintage losses peaked
- $40B+ excess capital post-deal funds buybacks once CET1 normalizes
- Tech stack (AWS-native, in-house ML underwriting) is structural cost advantage vs $JPM / $BAC card units
- Credit normalization not done - charge-offs near 6% on domestic cards, sticky
- DOJ/CFPB scrutiny of Discover network practices; integration risk on 60M+ accounts
- Subprime consumer is the canary; recession compresses NIM and spikes provisions simultaneously
- Network monetization vs $V / $MA is multi-year hypothesis, not 2026 catalyst
- Capital return throttled until Fed signs off on combined-entity stress capital buffer
No major news in the last 7 days for COF - only listicles and opinion pieces, which we filter out by default. See everything anyway.
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