Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation
20 quarters tracked through Q1 2026
Q4 2025 · Retrospective summary
The Cycle Takes Hold
Published in May 2026 as part of Cardintel’s launch backfill. Cardintel’s live editorial coverage of Capital One began with the Q1 2026 brief; this retrospective summarizes Q4 2025 from the canonical financial data with the benefit of hindsight.
Net charge-off rate rose 49 basis points to 6.28% in Q4 2025 — the peak in the post-merger loss cycle to date. Receivables crested near $248 billion, with the first signs of management restraint on origination beginning to show in flat-to-down purchase volume.
6.28% NCO is the highest the combined Capital One has run since the Discover merger closed. Three credit-quality moves in three quarters — Q2 → Q3 → Q4 — established the post-merger trajectory: credit drift was structural, not transitory.
The Q4 2025 provision response was muted relative to what would arrive in Q1 2026. Reserve coverage ratio expanded modestly to 8.58%, an orderly response to elevated NCOs. The kitchen-sink reserve build that would mark Q1 2026 was still one quarter away.
With the Q1 2026 brief already in hand, the Q4 2025 print reads in retrospect as the last quarter where COF’s response could still be called proportional. The disconnect between provision and actual losses — the defining feature of Q1 2026 — was not yet evident.
By the editors. Cardintel.
Credit quality
Net charge-off rate
6.28%
+49 bps
Q4 2025, annualized
30+ day delinquency rate
—
Q4 2025
Net interest margin
—
card segment NIM — sparse
Return on assets
—
consolidated RoA — sparse
Scale & earnings
Card receivables (EOP)
$248.3B
+3.6%
end of Q4 2025
Card net revenue
—
Provision for credit losses
—
Net charge-offs ($)
$3.8B
+10.4%
Q4 2025
Financial summary
P&L, balance sheet, and key drivers
Standardized issuer-summary format used across all coverage. Switch tabs to compare Capital One against a peer; change the table quarter independently of the page anchor.
| Metric | Capital One Q4 2025 | Prior Q Q3 2025 | Prior Y Q4 2024 | QoQ | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card net revenue | — | $11.6B | — | — | — |
| Provision for credit losses | — | $2.4B | — | — | — |
| Fee income (non-interest) | — | $2.2B | — | — | — |
| Net interest incomeSprint 8 — split out of card net revenue | — | — | — | — | — |
| Noninterest expenseSprint 8 — segment expense extraction | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pretax income | — | $3.8B | — | — | — |
| Net income | — | $2.9B | — | — | — |
Generated commentary
Capital One P&L for Q4 2025 — most line items pending ingestion.
$ in cents (formatted as $B / $M / $). Rows marked “pending” are tracked and will populate as the corresponding ingestion lands. Source: SEC EDGAR 10-K / 10-Q segment data and FFIEC Call Reports.
Net charge-off rate — 5-year history
Net charge-off rate for Capital One (solid) vs. the bank peer median (dashed) and 90th percentile (dotted). Use the controls above to overlay individual peers or a macroeconomic series on the right axis. Source: SEC 10-K/10-Q filings and FFIEC Call Reports; macro series via FRED.
Source: SEC EDGAR 10-Q filings + FFIEC Call Reports. Updated June 4, 2026.Methodology