What Happened?
Shares of financial services company Capital One (NYSE: COF) fell 6.2% in the morning session after the company reported fourth-quarter 2025 results that fell short of Wall Street's profit estimates, raising concerns about its profitability.
The bank's adjusted earnings per share for the quarter came in at $3.86, missing analyst expectations of $4.14. A key factor driving the negative sentiment was the company's efficiency ratio, which measures non-interest expenses against revenue. The ratio came in at 60%, significantly worse than the 52.5% analysts had forecasted. A higher efficiency ratio indicates that expenses grew faster than revenue, weighing on the bank's bottom line. While revenue of $15.58 billion slightly beat forecasts, investors focused on the weaker-than-expected profitability, sending the shares lower.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Capital One? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Capital One’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 10 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 11 days ago when the stock dropped 6.6% on the news that President Donald Trump announced a plan to impose a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates.
The proposal sent a chill through the banking sector, as the cap is significantly lower than the average commercial bank interest rate, which was just under 21% in the preceding November. Such a move raised concerns about the future profitability of credit card lenders and their ability to extend credit to consumers. Industry groups voiced opposition, claiming the cap could reduce credit availability.
Capital One is down 11.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $219.03 per share, it is trading 15.1% below its 52-week high of $257.94 from January 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Capital One’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,136.
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