Morgan Stanley Upgrades Zions Bancorp (ZION) to Overweight

Morgan Stanley analyst Manan Gosalia upgraded Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) from Equalweight to Overweight with a price target of $75.00 (from $70.00).

The analyst comments: "We are upgrading ZION to Overweight based on our expectation for ~180 bps of positive operating leverage in 2026, above both the company's 100–150 bps guidance and ~90 bps Consensus estimate. Roughly half of this is effectively 'locked in' from the roll off of terminated swaps, which we estimate contributes ~90 bps of revenue growth, with no associated expense. The remainder is driven by improving core fundamentals, including accelerating loan growth, balance sheet remixing, deposit repricing tailwinds, and continued fee growth. We see room for adj PPNR beats this year; we are +2.6% higher than consensus on 2026 adj PPNR. We also see room for a significant acceleration in buybacks in 2027 (from $100M in 2026 to $450M in 2027 vs. consensus of $150M) as ZION reduces the gap vs. peers on CET1 (including AOCI). Shares have underperformed the group by 400bps YTD, making for an attractive entry point. We also recommend the stock going into 1Q26 earnings given this recent underperformance, and given that ZION should benefit from a full quarter benefit in deposit rates from last quarter's rate cuts and the fact that 60% of CDs reprice in 1Q26."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Zions Bancorp click here. For more ratings news on Zions Bancorp click here.

Shares of Zions Bancorp closed at $57.28 yesterday.

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