NEW YORK, Feb 17, 2026, 19:11 EST — After-hours.
Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) were last down about 0.6% in extended trading on Tuesday at $93.08. The stock ranged from $92.30 to $94.44 during the session, with about 11.2 million shares traded.
Why it matters now: traders are staring at the next batch of Fed signals, and Schwab is a rate-sensitive name. The Federal Reserve is set to publish minutes from its late-January meeting on Wednesday, a release that can nudge expectations for when (and how fast) rate cuts arrive. (Federal Reserve)
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said “several more” cuts could be possible this year if inflation gets back on track, while arguing that services inflation is still “not tamed.” “If…we can show that we’re on path to 2% inflation, I still think there’s several more rate cuts that can happen in 2026,” he said, adding: “But we’ve got to see it.” (Reuters)
For Schwab, the stakes are plain: net interest income — the spread between what it earns on client cash and what it pays out — can rise or fall with shifts in yields and policy expectations. A softer path for rates can help some parts of the market, but it can also squeeze that spread.
The stock is also still moving in a sector that has been quick to flinch at AI headlines. Earlier this month, brokerage shares slid after wealth-management startup Altruist rolled out AI-enabled tax planning features, feeding fears about fee pressure and disruption. “Traders sell first and ask questions later,” Dennis Dick, chief market strategist at Stock Trader Network, told Reuters at the time. (Reuters)
U.S. stocks finished Tuesday with small gains after a choppy day, as investors continued to wrestle with the upside of AI investment and the risk of disruption across industries. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% and the Nasdaq added 0.14%, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was around 4.06%. (Reuters)
Schwab’s brokerage peers were mixed. LPL Financial fell about 3.7%, Interactive Brokers slid about 1.9% and Ameriprise lost roughly 1.0%, while Morgan Stanley edged up about 0.2% and Robinhood dipped about 0.7%.
Schwab has also put shareholder returns back in view. The company’s board declared a 19% increase in its quarterly common dividend to $0.32 a share, payable Feb. 27 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 13. Co-Chairman Walt Bettinger said the increase reflects the board’s “confidence” in Schwab’s ability to “drive profitable growth.” (Business Wire)
The last major company update was in January, when Schwab posted higher fourth-quarter profit, helped by higher interest income and strong trading revenue, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
But the setup cuts both ways. If the Fed minutes read more hawkish than investors expect — or if incoming inflation data pushes yields lower in a hurry — Schwab’s rate-driven revenue tailwinds can fade, and the stock can get re-priced fast. The AI story is another wild card: the market has not settled on whether it means real margin compression or just better tools.
What’s next is a busy midweek tape. Data on Wednesday includes industrial production and leading indicators, ahead of the Fed minutes release that afternoon — the kind of mix that can move yields and, by extension, Schwab. (Scotiabank)
Traders will be watching Wednesday’s Fed minutes closely, then Friday’s PCE inflation report, for the next clear read on rate-cut timing — and whether SCHW can find steadier footing into the end of the week.
