Sallie Mae Reports Third-Quarter Results on October 22: What to Look For
Sallie Mae will release its third-quarter 2026 financial results after the stock market closes on Thursday, October 22, 2026. The company, formally SLM Corporation, trades on Nasdaq under the ticker SLM. It announced the date in a Business Wire notice issued October 13, 2026. The company will hold its earnings call at 5:30 p.m. ET that day, according to its investor relations calendar. Until the results are released, none of the quarter's numbers are public.
Sallie Mae makes private education loans. These are loans for school that come from banks and companies, not from the government.
The first number many credit analysts will check is the net charge-off rate. This is the share of loans the lender gives up on collecting, after subtracting any money it later recovers. It is measured against the loans borrowers are actively repaying, and it is stated as a yearly rate. That yearly rate makes it easier to compare one quarter with another.
Sallie Mae reported $77 million in private education loan charge-offs for the third quarter of 2024. That equaled 2.08% on a yearly basis, down from 2.53% in the third quarter of 2023 (earnings presentation). Its third-quarter 2025 release reported 1.95% on the same basis (Q3 2025 earnings release). So the third-quarter figures run 2.53%, 2.08%, and 1.95% across three years. Today's number will be compared with 1.95%. For most readers, the direction of the change matters more than the exact level.
Expenses are the other number to watch. An SLM Corporation exhibit filed with the SEC reported $180 million in non-interest expenses. These are the costs of running the business, apart from interest and loan losses (SEC exhibit).
Sallie Mae makes money from the gap between what it pays to borrow and what it earns on its loans. Loan losses and running costs both eat into that gap. Looking at only one of them can give a misleading picture.
The company's balance sheet, which is its list of what it owns and owes, has also changed. Loans held for sale are loans the company has marked for sale instead of keeping until they are repaid. These stood at $933 million on December 31, 2025, and $236 million on March 31, 2026 (Form 10-Q). Investors will want to know whether that figure moves again in the third quarter and how it affects reported income.
Per-share numbers depend on how many shares exist. Sallie Mae had 198,154,626 shares of common stock outstanding as of January 31, 2026 (proxy-related filing).
The company last reported quarterly results on July 23, 2026, for the second quarter (Business Wire). Thursday's release will be the first full look at the third quarter.
In my view, the most useful test is simple. Does the yearly charge-off rate stay at or below 1.95%? Do expenses stay near the levels in the filings? Does the loan book behave the way earlier filings suggest? These are questions the numbers will answer, not forecasts I can make from here. The answers will come with the release and the call.
