With the disclosure of the first quarter report of listed banks in 2026, the signal of bottoming out and stabilizing net interest margin in the banking industry is becoming increasingly clear. State owned large banks, joint-stock banks, and top city commercial banks are showing a differentiated improvement trend, with the decline in net interest margin narrowing or stabilizing and rebounding, directly driving net interest income from decline to increase, and the path for bank profitability recovery is gradually becoming clear. Multiple institutions and industry experts believe that with the continuous release of cost dividends on the liability side and the stabilization of asset pricing, the turning point of profitability in the banking industry has emerged, and the certainty of full year recovery has significantly increased. Observing the stabilization and recovery of net interest margin, according to the first quarter reports released by listed banks, by institution type, although the interest margin and profit performance of different types of banks still show differentiation, the net interest margin of top banks has shown obvious resilience for recovery. Among them, the six major state-owned banks, as the "ballast stones" of the banking industry, have significantly narrowed the decline in net interest margin and have obvious marginal stabilization characteristics. The data shows that the average net interest margin of the six major banks in the first quarter of 2026 was 1.30%, a decrease of only 0.01 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, and a significant improvement from the decrease of 0.14-0.18 percentage points in the same period of 2025. At present, the net interest income of the six major banks has generally turned from negative to positive, and the growth rates of revenue and net profit have steadily rebounded. The synergistic support effect of non interest business has also continued to strengthen. Among them, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China achieved operating revenue of 230.37 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 8.27%, and net interest income increased by 7.49% year-on-year; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 86.941 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.31%, with a significant increase in growth rate compared to 2025. As of the end of the first quarter of 2026, China Construction Bank's net interest margin was 1.36%, an increase of 0.02 percentage points from the previous year. Its revenue and net profit maintained a double growth trend, and the growth rate also expanded. Postal Savings Bank of China, relying on its advantage in debt cost, had a net interest margin of 1.65% in the first quarter of this year, and its deposit interest rate has dropped to 0.99%, making it the bank with the best improvement in interest margin among the six major banks. In the first quarter of 2026, the overall performance of listed joint-stock banks showed a pattern of "stabilization and differentiation", with top institutions taking the lead in achieving a rebound in interest margins. The average net interest margin of joint-stock banks was 1.56%, unchanged from the previous quarter, and the year-on-year decline narrowed to 0.05-0.08 percentage points. From a specific institutional perspective, in the first quarter of this year, China Merchants Bank ranked among the top joint-stock banks with a net interest margin of 1.83%, a decrease of 0.03 percentage points compared to the previous quarter; The revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders in the first quarter increased by 3.81% and 1.52% respectively year-on-year, with growth rates higher than the full year of 2025; The net interest income reached 55.642 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.99%. This business is still the main source of revenue for China Merchants Bank, and the improvement in growth rate is conducive to the continuous improvement of profitability. In addition, as one of the few banks in the stock market to experience a "double decline" in revenue and net profit in 2025, Ping An Bank has reversed its downward trend in the first quarter of this year. The bank achieved a revenue of 35.277 billion yuan in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of 4.65%; The net profit attributable to the parent company was 14.523 billion yuan, an increase of 3.03% year-on-year, and the growth rate of revenue and profit returned to positive for the first time in nearly three years. In addition, the net interest margin of the bank in the first quarter was 1.79%, a slight increase of 0.01 percentage points compared to the whole year last year, mainly due to the improvement of the bank's debt cost. Industry insiders believe that overall, the net interest income growth rate of joint-stock companies in the first quarter of this year has generally rebounded to 3% -8%, with non interest income and interest income forming a "dual wheel drive", and profit stability continues to strengthen. Compared to state-owned large banks and joint-stock banks, top city commercial banks have become representatives of this round of interest rate spread stabilization and recovery. At the end of the first quarter of this year, the average net interest margin of top city commercial banks was 1.37%, unchanged from the previous quarter. Some banks rebounded by 0.05-0.08 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, and the improvement in interest margin was significantly higher than that of state-owned large banks and joint-stock banks. Guiyang Bank has shown significant improvement, with a net interest margin of 1.66% as of the end of the first quarter of this year, an increase of 0.12 percentage points year-on-year. The improvement in interest margin directly drove a 14.60% year-on-year increase in revenue for the first quarter, reversing the continuous decline in revenue over the past three years; The net interest margin of Chengdu Bank was 1.65%, an increase of 0.04 percentage points year-on-year. The net interest income increased by 22.3% year-on-year, directly driving the bank's revenue growth by 15.1%. The net interest margin of Nanjing Bank, Hangzhou Bank, and Ningbo Bank, among the top city commercial banks, reached 1.58%, 1.62%, and 1.58% respectively, showing an upward trend compared to the previous period. Among them, Nanjing Bank's net interest income in the first quarter increased by 39.44% year-on-year, driving a revenue growth of 13.54% year-on-year. It is worth noting that these top city commercial banks not only have significantly improved interest rates, but also maintain stable asset quality, with non-performing loan ratios below 1%, providing solid support for sustained profit recovery; At the same time, the increase in profitability will also internally enhance the core tier one capital adequacy ratio of the bank, making capital more abundant and risk resistant. The certainty of profit recovery has been enhanced. Regarding the current trend of stable net interest margin and profit recovery in the banking industry, Guotai Haitong Securities pointed out that the net interest margin of listed banks in the first quarter of 2026 was 1.37%, narrowing the year-on-year decline to 0.03 percentage points, which is a significant improvement compared to the same period in 2025. Some banks have already achieved bottom stabilization. With the repricing of high interest deposits due, the company will continue to improve the net interest margin level and enhance profitability. Everbright Securities recently stated that the upward turning point of the banking industry's net interest margin in 2026 has been basically established, and after bottoming out and stabilizing in the first quarter, it is expected to slightly increase throughout the year. According to its calculations, the maturity repricing scale of high interest deposits for the whole year of 2026 can reach 84 trillion yuan, which can improve the interest margin by 0.15 percentage points and effectively hedge the downward pressure of about 0.10 percentage points on the asset side. The continuous improvement on the liability side will become the basis for stabilizing the interest margin. At the recent performance briefing, relevant bank executives also expressed clear expectations for the stabilization of interest rates and profit recovery. Yao Mingde, Vice President of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, stated that the interest rate spread is likely to show an "L-shaped" trend in 2026. The short-term downward trend has not changed, but the improvement factors continue to accumulate, and the steady state of marginal enterprises will continue. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's net interest income will turn positive year-on-year, mainly due to the reduction of debt costs, stabilization of asset pricing, and optimization of business structure. As the steady state of interest rate spreads continues, the profit transmission effect of the banking industry continues to emerge. At present, banks that have disclosed their first quarter reports have generally achieved significant year-on-year growth in net interest income, with both revenue and net profit showing positive growth. Non interest income has also rebounded, while wealth management, handling fees, and commission income have maintained a growth rate of 5% -12%, forming a good pattern of coordinated development with interest income. A representative from a regional city commercial bank told reporters that from the performance of listed banks in the first quarter, the overall improvement is significant, showing a trend of bottoming out and rebounding. Under the combined effect of stabilizing the macro environment, optimizing the bank's own business, and cost saving effects, the overall profitability of the banking industry is recovering. However, there are still differences in the pace and elasticity of recovery among different types of banks, with top joint-stock banks and regional city commercial banks being the main force in this round of recovery. A leading city commercial bank in the eastern region stated in its first quarter report that with the continuous deepening of business model innovation, relying on technology empowerment to improve service efficiency, actively expanding diversified profit channels, and steadily enhancing comprehensive service capabilities, it will promote steady growth in profits. For the full year trend of 2026, CITIC Securities pointed out that based on the disclosed first quarter report, the revenue and profit growth rates of listed banks continued to rise, with a significant increase in net interest income driving revenue improvement. The book asset quality indicators also remained stable, and it is expected that the full year trend will continue, which will help improve the overall profitability of the banking industry. The recent report released by rating agency Fitch Ratings also believes that a long-term low interest rate environment will not significantly change banks' asset liability strategies, income structures, and competitive landscape. The relevant banks are expected to maintain robust liquidity management to avoid excessive interest rate risk or refinancing risk. In the medium term, banks with gradually diversified sources of income are expected to further enhance their resilience across economic cycles. (Looking into the New Era)