PNC Says Growth Markets and ‘Tariff-Related Considerations’ Drive Surge in Commercial Loans

PNC Financial Services Group generated its highest level of new commercial loan production in 10 quarters during the second quarter, PNC Chairman and CEO William S. Demchak said Wednesday (July 16) during the bank’s quarterly earnings call.

The bank’s 4% growth in commercial and industrial (C&I) loans drove a 2% increase in average loans, amounting to an additional $6.1 billion, PNC said in a Wednesday earnings release.

Demchak attributed the growth to PNC’s continued focus on driving growth by accelerating customer acquisition and deepening relationships with existing customers.

“Loan growth increased even through an uncertain macro environment, and we delivered on what we said we would,” Demchak said during the call.

Later during the call, responding to an analyst’s request for color context around that growth, PNC Chief Financial Officer Robert Q. Reilly said loan growth was driven in part by an uptick in utilization “in part due to, obviously, some tariff-related considerations.”

“But importantly for us, on top of that, was also new production, in large part from our growth markets, which is simply the fruition of years of working toward that,” Reilly added. “So, it really was a combination that drove those higher levels.”

Reilly added that the second quarter’s loan growth was slightly more than expected. The bank doesn’t expect it to continue growing at that rate through the remainder of 2025, though it announced Wednesday that it raised its full-year guidance on average loans from stable to up 1%.

During PNC’s previous earnings call, which was held April 15, Demchak highlighted the increased C&I loan commitments and spot balances the bank had seen at that time, and Reilly said that while some of that growth could have been driven by businesses building up their inventory ahead of tariffs, the growth was broad-based across most loan categories.

On Wednesday, during the latest earnings call, Demchak said that PNC’s $1.5 billion branch investment remains on track and that the bank plans to open more than 200 branches in its expansion markets.

PNC said in November that over the next five years, it plans to open 200 new branches in 12 cities and renovate 1,400 existing branches. At the time, the bank had more than 2,200 branches across the country.

“We’re on a good path in that the new markets and new clients are giving us an organic growth opportunity that we haven’t seen in years,” Demchak said Wednesday.