BTIG reduced its price objective on Synchrony Financial to $96.00 from $100.00 but maintained a Buy recommendation on the stock. The change follows the company's 2026 guidance, which BTIG analyst Vincent Caintic characterized as "inline to slightly worse" than the firm had anticipated. BTIG said the guidance prompted roughly a 6% decline in the share price that the firm judged "overly draconian."
The analyst note incorporates revised assumptions for higher expenses and slower loan growth. BTIG continues to value Synchrony at 10x and 9x its 2026 and 2027 EPS estimates, respectively, while pointing out that the shares currently trade at just 7.8x the midpoint of the 2026 EPS guidance, which the company set at $9.30.
Market data referenced by InvestingPro shows that analyst price targets for SYF span a range from $72 to $103, with the stock trading at $72.99 at the time of the report. InvestingPro also lists a current P/E ratio for SYF of 8.06 and a PEG ratio of 0.43, which reflects a relatively low price-to-earnings multiple compared with the firm's expected growth. The platform rates Synchrony with an overall financial health score of 3.12 and labels that rating as "GREAT," signaling solid fundamentals despite recent volatility.
BTIG described 2026 as a "transition year toward growth" for Synchrony. The research note ties a recovery in growth and the firm's valuation to successful execution of a series of partnership initiatives. Specifically, BTIG highlighted potential upside from new and expanded partnerships with Walmart, a commercial card relationship with Lowe's, and buy-now-pay-later services on Amazon. The firm expects clearer evidence of these initiatives translating into growth by the second quarter of 2026.
At the same time, BTIG underscored the importance of managing expenses. The research firm noted that Synchrony needs to bring its efficiency ratio back toward the long-term guidance range of 32% to 33% from a projected 35% for 2026. BTIG framed top-line growth driven by investment spending as the route to improved long-term efficiency, but cautioned that expense control is a prerequisite for reaching the company's stated targets.
In its most recent reported period, Synchrony posted fourth-quarter 2025 results with earnings per share of $2.04, which matched analysts' expectations. Revenue for the quarter came in at $3.79 billion, below the forecasted $3.84 billion and missing estimates by 1.3%. BTIG and other market participants focused on that revenue shortfall as an important signal about near-term performance relative to expectations.
BTIG's updated target and the analyst commentary reflect a view that Synchrony's medium-term upside depends on converting partnership growth initiatives into measurable loan and fee growth while simultaneously reining in expenses to regain historical efficiency levels. The firm's valuation framework retains a multiple-based approach versus 2026 and 2027 EPS, but the near-term path is conditioned on execution against the initiatives and expense trajectory outlined above.
Context for market participants
- Investors should weigh the reduced price target against the maintained Buy rating and the company's current trading multiples.
- Key operational levers are partnership rollouts and expense discipline, which will influence loan growth and efficiency metrics.
- Recent quarterly results showed EPS in line with estimates but a modest revenue miss that bears watching.