New York, Feb 13, 2026, 17:56 EST — After-hours
Charles Schwab slipped roughly 1.4% after the bell Friday, changing hands most recently at $93.72.
Schwab’s latest monthly activity report put transactional sweep cash at $433.3 billion in January, down $20.4 billion. The company pointed to routine seasonality for that move. Core net new assets—a key barometer for Schwab—came in at $27.8 billion. Total client assets hit $12.15 trillion for the month. Daily average trades landed at 9.5 million. Margin loan balances, which track customer borrowing for securities, increased to $116.3 billion.
Why it’s catching attention: Schwab’s monthly update gives investors a first look at client cash balances and trading — both can quickly move the earnings needle. Sweep cash stands out here. When yields climb, clients don’t hesitate to shift idle money into products offering better returns, shrinking Schwab’s pool of cheap funding.
The broader market barely budged Friday, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF holding flat. Financials slipped, though, dragging the sector ETF down a notch.
This data follows a turbulent stretch for much of the brokerage and wealth sector, with “AI disruption” grabbing headlines as the key mover. Barclays equity strategist Emmanual Cau described the mood as “sell first think later”—investors scrambling to dump shares of whatever they fear might be hit next by the AI wave. Reuters
LPL Financial and Raymond James caught a lift Friday, trading higher late in the session. Schwab, though, often moves on its own track—its balance sheet and cash flows tend to set it apart when those issues dominate.
Monthly numbers are a double-edged sword. Faster drops in sweep cash threaten interest income. On the flip side, bigger margin balances can spell trouble if markets sour and leveraged clients have to pull back risk.
U.S. stock markets will take a break Monday for Presidents Day. Trading resumes Tuesday, with desks eyeing the latest sector moves linked to AI worries—waiting to see if those swings settle down or re-accelerate.
Schwab’s next key update should land with its February monthly activity report, currently slated for release on March 13, according to the investor-relations calendar.
