Berkshire Hathaway Reveals New Stakes in Delta Air Lines and Macy’s Under Greg Abel 
Thyssenkrupp to Shut Down Indiana Automotive Plant by March 2026 
Amazon Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Trump Tariff Price Hikes 
OpenAI Wins Elon Musk Lawsuit as Jury Rejects Claims Over AI Mission 
Samsung Shares Drop as Labor Union Confirms Planned Strike 
Takeda Hit With $885M Verdict Over Amitiza Generic Drug Delay Scheme 
YouTube and Snap Settle School District Mental Health Lawsuit Ahead of Major Social Media Trial 
Sonova Beats Profit Forecasts Despite Cochlear Implant Weakness 
Elliott Targets Bio-Rad as Shares Continue to Struggle 
Analog Devices Nears $1.5B Acquisition of AI Chip Firm Empower Semiconductor 
FTC Antitrust Probe Targets Arm Holdings Over Chip Licensing Practices 
TrumpRx Expands Discount Drug Access With 600 Generic Medications 
Honda Shares Jump as Automaker Forecasts Profit Recovery Despite Historic Loss 
CXMT Forecasts Record Revenue Growth as Global DRAM Prices Surge 
Samsung Faces Major Strike Threat as Union Restarts Pay Talks 
Standard Chartered Targets Higher Profitability With Major Workforce Cuts 
National Australia Bank (NAB) shares surged to a record high after the lender posted a strong 16% rise in first-quarter cash earnings, driven by solid growth in business lending and home loans. Investors pushed NAB’s stock up as much as 5.8% to an all-time peak of A$47.96, marking its best trading session since April last year.
Australia’s largest business lender reported cash earnings of A$2.02 billion ($1.43 billion) for the quarter ended December 31, up from A$1.74 billion a year earlier. The robust performance highlights NAB’s resilience amid intensifying competition among Australia’s “Big Four” banks, including Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Westpac Banking Corp, and ANZ Group.
NAB’s core business banking division, its largest segment, recorded a 7% increase in quarterly volumes, with Business & Private Banking delivering 3% growth. Housing loan volumes also climbed 5%, with Australian home lending growth outperforming the broader market when excluding runoffs from the Advantedge unit. NAB previously confirmed it will migrate all Advantedge home loans to NAB-branded products by late 2026, a move aimed at streamlining operations and strengthening its retail banking footprint.
The bank’s net interest margin (NIM), a key measure of lending profitability, edged up 2 basis points to 1.80%, reflecting improved margins and disciplined cost management. However, NAB’s common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a crucial capital adequacy metric, slipped to 11.48% from 11.6% last year, raising some concerns among analysts.
Citi analysts described the result as a strong earnings beat, supported by an impressive quarter in Markets & Treasury and improved asset quality, though they flagged the lower CET1 ratio as a potential overhang.
NAB’s results cap off a positive earnings season for Australia’s major banks, following record half-year earnings from CBA and profit beats from Westpac and ANZ, underscoring the sector’s competitive momentum and solid financial performance.
