Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) is benefiting from robust revenue growth and solid liquidity. Strategic acquisitions diversified Fifth Third's revenue sources, supporting its top-line growth. Hence, it seems to be a wise idea to add the FITB stock to your portfolio now, given its solid fundamentals and decent growth prospects.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FITB's earnings has been revised to 3.3% and 2.3% north for 2023 and 2024, respectively, in the past month. This shows that analysts are optimistic regarding the company’s earnings prospects. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

In the past six months, shares of the company have gained 18.5% compared with the industry's growth of 14.6%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

A few factors mentioned below make the stock worth betting on now.

Earnings Growth: FITB witnessed earnings growth of 11.3% in the past three to five years. In the next 3-5 years, the company is expected to witness earnings growth of 2.7%.

Also, the company has a decent earnings surprise history. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average beat being 7.91%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings indicates a 2.8% rise on a year-over-year basis in 2024 and 8.2% in 2025.

Revenue Growth: The company’s diverse revenue base will likely support its financials in the upcoming period. Further, it expanded its fee-income base over the years on strategic buyouts. FITB completed the acquisition of Big Data LLC in 2023, adding national healthcare revenue cycle capabilities to its operations. 
We expect revenues to drop 1.9% in 2024. It is expected to rebound and grow by 4.5% and 3.1% in 2025 and 2026, respectively.

Strategic Acquisitions: Fifth Third expanded over the years through various strategic acquisitions. The company completed the acquisition of Big Data LLC in 2023, adding national healthcare revenue cycle capabilities to its operations. This will, thereby, advance its digital payments and managed services offerings. It also acquired an embedded payment platform, Rize Money. The acquisitions of Dividend Finance in 2022, Provide in 2021 and Coker Capital in 2018 expanded commercial verticals. The company also made efforts to enhance its presence in the Southeast and reduce its footprint in the Midwest region. With such efforts, Fifth Third diversified its revenue base, which will support the company’s top-line growth even during situations of an economic slowdown.

Strong Liquidity: Reflecting a solid balance sheet position, as of Jun 30, 2024, FITB had a total debt (comprising long-term debt and other short-term borrowings) of $19.7 billion, while total liquidity was $107 billion.