This story was originally published on CFO.com. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO.com newsletter.
Earnings calls, loved by some CFOs and dreaded by others, allow finance leaders and their fellow executives to verbalize their organization’s progress. Each month, CFO.com compiles interesting insights shared by CFOs during these calls for The CFO Earnings Dispatch series. These insights include statements about their company, analysis of financial data and answers to analysts’ questions.
For April, we highlight CFO takes from Robinhood, Sleep Number, Starbucks, Ally Financial, State Street, First Industry Realty Trust, Independent Bank, Fastenal and Guaranty Bancshares.
Market cap: $41.55 billion
Date of call: April 30
As markets continue to be volatile, Robinhood CFO Jason Warnick said retail investor engagement remained strong throughout April. He gave credit to product diversification in areas like retirement, crypto and advisory strategies for expanding customer asset allocation and sustaining momentum beyond the first quarter.
“And what's different about us today than perhaps a few years ago is, there's just a lot more options for customers to place their assets,” Warnick said. “Whether it's the growth in retirement, the nascent growth in strategies, certainly brokerage, we're also seeing it go into crypto. So I'd say that there's a pretty broad-based strength of retail engagement that we're seeing, and all signs are positive throughout the month of April.”
Market cap: $184.12 million
Date of call: April 30
While announcing a 16% year-over-year drop in revenue alongside a brand new CEO, Sleep Number CFO Francis Lee outlined a sweeping cost reduction plan totaling between $80–$100 million annually. He detailed how the plan includes fixed cost cuts in research and development and general and administrative expenses, a restructured marketing model and supply chain adjustments to offset up to $17 million in potential 2025 tariff impacts. He also said his goals during this process are preserving the company’s liquidity while managing debt “without diluting current shareholders.”
“While we have hard work ahead, we are taking necessary actions now to position the company for a return to growth and profit flow-through in the future,” Lee said. “You can expect us to be bold in our actions as we take a closer look at our strategy and operations. Our focus on growing profitability and paying down debt remains unwavering. We are committed to creating value for our shareholders in a brand-accretive, profitable and sustainable way over the long term.”
Market cap: $93.15 billion
Date of call: April 29
In her first earnings call with the company, Starbucks CFO Cathy Smith acknowledged the company’s underwhelming Q2 performance, with the operating margin dropping by 450 basis points and earnings per share falling 38% year-over-year. Despite the pressure, she expressed confidence in the company’s turnaround strategy, pointing to early operational wins and a disciplined approach to testing and scaling improvements under the “Back to Starbucks” plan.
“While our financial results are far from Starbucks' potential, I am confident we have the right strategy and are starting to see early evidence and leading indicators,” said Smith. “We are building new muscles to test, iterate and scale quickly, all while focused on customers and listening to partners. I want to thank our partners who are dedicated to bringing our Back to Starbucks strategy to life."
Market cap: $2.56 billion
Date of call: April 24
Even with tougher competition and some rate curve volatility, Independent Bank CFO Mark Ruggiero told analysts the bank isn’t chasing volume with aggressive loan pricing. He noted deals are landing in the mid-6% range, but the team is staying focused on keeping margins steady.
“Yeah, it definitely is competitive out there… we're trying to hold the line on pricing. For the first quarter, we saw a blended weighted average coupon in the 6.60% to 6.70% range,” said Ruggiero. “The five- and seven-year part of the curve has been on a bit of a roller coaster, so we're working to maintain some stability in overall pricing. Right now, you're probably seeing deals priced more in the mid-sixes, maybe even a little tighter. Given our appetite to keep loan demand in check, we're going to stay as disciplined as we can on pricing. We've never been a bank that leads with price.”
Market cap: $9.96 billion
Date of call: April 17
Ally Financial CFO Russ Hutchinson said the company took a $495 million hit on low-yielding securities to reinvest that money at better market rates — a move he says is aimed at boosting net interest margin and reducing rate risk over time. He also reported $58 million in weather-related losses, the highest first-quarter total in Ally’s history. Despite these insurance headwinds and the ongoing problems in the auto loan market, Hutchinson said Ally is still on track to reach its mid-teens return on equity goal.
“These securities portfolio repositionings have helped us to reduce interest rate risk, be marginally less liability sensitive, and protect against volatility in tangible book value. Taken together, with the sale of [the company’s credit card business] and these securities repositionings, we expect our continued earnings expansion to support our continued investment in the growth of our core franchises and eventual share repurchases,” Hutchinson said. “At this point, we are not expecting additional securities transactions. We believe that we have addressed the areas of the portfolio that offer the most compelling combination of risk mitigation and net interest margin benefit.”
Market cap: $25.73 billion
Date of call: April 17
When asked by an analyst how much of the company’s expenses are variable over a one- to two-year period, State Street’s interim CFO Mark Keating said the organization has become more agile in addressing this thanks to ongoing transformation and automation efforts. While he avoided giving a specific percentage, Keating said the company has significantly improved its ability to flex expenses alongside revenue shifts.
“I wouldn’t want to necessarily put a pin on it, [but] if you think about how our organization is structured, with people, headcount and occupancy — I think your number, somewhere around two-thirds, is in the ballpark. I wouldn’t want to put a specific number on it. What I would say is we’ve gotten better at being able, as [our CEO] said, to flex our expense base through the transformation we’ve been doing, driving product automation. So we’ve built more flexibility into our cost base to adjust to different revenue scenarios.”
Market cap: $6.38 billion
Date of call: April 17
Scott Musil, CFO of First Industrial Realty Trust, said the company extended several credit facilities to push out its debt timeline and give itself more room to operate. With no major maturities until 2027, he says the company is in a solid spot to keep investing in development and ride out any rate swings.
“We renewed and upsized our senior unsecured revolving credit facility by $100 million, bringing the total commitment to $850 million, and extended the maturity to March 2030,” Musil. “We also renewed our $200 million unsecured term loan, with extension options that could push its maturity to 2030. In addition, we exercised a one-year extension option on our $300 million term loan, moving its maturity to August 2026, with another extension option still available. After these transactions — assuming we exercise that remaining option — our next debt maturity doesn’t occur until 2027.”
Market cap: $46.57 billion
Date of call: April 11
On his final earnings call after nearly nine years in the role, Fastenal CFO Holden Lewis opened with a personal message to colleagues, investors and his CEO Dan Florness, reflecting on his experience as an “unorthodox hire” (Lewis was an equity researcher prior to his CFO position). His remarks came as Fastenal reported a 3.4% increase in first-quarter sales — the strongest daily sales rate since mid-2023.
“Before digging into the results for what will be my final call, I did want to mention a few things,” said Lewis. “First, to Dan, who nearly nine years ago took a chance on a relatively unorthodox hire, it’s been an unbelievable experience working with a great leader. I’ve truly enjoyed being your partner in this.”
“I know I got this opportunity in part because of my outsider’s perspective, but you challenged me to earn your trust and respect, and you deserve that,” said Lewis. “I’ve tried to do that for nine years, and it wouldn’t have been possible without your passion for learning, teaching and collaboration — the foundation of our culture. I’ve surely enjoyed being your CFO, and I couldn’t ask for 24,000 better friends. And to our investors, you probably don’t realize how often I’ve used your observations, perspectives and questions in my own work here. For that, I thank you.”
Market cap: $443.65 million
Date of call: April 21
Guaranty Bancshares CFO Shalene Jacobson said the bank is keeping its loan loss reserves elevated, even though credit quality remains solid. The bank doesn’t expect to increase reserves, but isn’t ready to lower them just yet.
“We have kept our qualitative factors at elevated levels because we wanted to be more conservative,” Jacobson said. “Each time we started thinking about unwinding some of those economic factors, a new event would happen. It started with COVID, then the bank failures, then the election and now tariff uncertainties. So we’ve kept those factors elevated instead of reducing them like some of our peers. At some point, if we start getting more certainty, we’ll look at unwinding them a bit. Like [our CEO] said, we don’t anticipate increasing them.”
Recommended Reading
