New York, Feb 24, 2026, 09:13 EST — Premarket
- SLM dropped about 12% by the close on Monday, ending the session at $19.86.
- Fitch lowered ratings across several bond tranches tied to older SLM private student-loan trusts, citing higher default rates and rising maturity risk.
- The proxy statement is slated for late April. Sallie Mae’s annual meeting is set for June 16.
SLM Corp hovered steady before Tuesday’s bell. The stock had dropped $2.75, or about 12%, the previous session, ending at $19.86.
For Sallie Mae, which relies on private student loans as its core business, this shift stands out. Credit trends hit funding markets fast in this space. A single warning about loan performance—sometimes tucked away in technical footnotes or buried amid securitization talk—can be enough to shake investors, because these hidden gears still steer what the company pays to fund itself.
Sallie Mae’s 2026 annual meeting will shift to a virtual format, with June 16 now on the books for shareholders to log on. According to the company, voting will be limited to investors who were on record by April 20. Details are expected in the proxy filing coming late April. (Sallie Mae Newsroom)
Fitch Ratings kept ratings steady on 21 tranches across 12 SLM Private Credit Student Loan Trusts, but cut ratings on 10 others. The 2003 class A notes were assigned a negative outlook after the downgrades. For the 2006-C class B notes, Fitch reversed course, lifting the outlook to positive. (MarketScreener)
Bonds are carved up into tranches, each with its own place in the payout line: junior pieces take losses first, while seniors are built with extra protection. “Asset performance for all transactions has been deteriorating with increasing defaults and delinquencies,” Fitch wrote.
The agency cited two reasons for downgrading the 2003 trusts: mounting “maturity risk”—meaning, the chance cash flows arrive late as legal final maturities approach—and falling “parity,” which measures how much collateral remains versus the debt still outstanding on the transaction.
Fitch raised its conditional default rate assumption on SLM transactions to 3.5%, pointing to a rise in defaults and delinquencies over the past year. The conditional default rate measures the yearly pace of defaults as a share of the loans still outstanding.
Sallie Mae struck an upbeat tone on 2025 in its latest earnings release, projecting 2026 GAAP diluted EPS of $2.70 to $2.80. The company expects net charge-offs to land somewhere between $345 million and $385 million, while non-interest expenses are still pegged at $750 million to $780 million. CEO Jonathan Witter described the 2025 results as “solid,” citing improved loan originations and a more favorable net charge-off rate. (Sallie Mae)
A trust-level downgrade doesn’t pack the same punch as a corporate rating cut. The securities in question are tied to long-standing legacy pools, with Fitch pointing out that the affected tranches won’t reach their legal final maturities until 2032 and 2033. So, the news can race ahead of what’s really happening with the underlying cash flows.
Navient, a familiar player in student lending, also landed in Fitch’s review—highlighting that investor nerves stretch beyond just one company. Equity holders are now watching to see if Monday’s selloff sets off more risk reduction, or if some decide the drop is deep enough to tempt buyers back in.
Sallie Mae is lining up March 5 as the record date for its $0.13 per share common dividend, with payment due on March 16. The proxy filing is slated for late April; that’s where shareholders will find details ahead of the annual meeting set for June 16. (Sallie Mae Newsroom)
