02:06 PM EDT, 05/01/2024 (MT Newswires) -- New York Community Bancorp ( NYCB/PU ) shares surged intraday Wednesday after the lender said it's eyeing peer-level profitability by the end of 2026, even as its first-quarter results came in weaker than expected.

For 2024, the company expects a per-share loss of $0.50 to $0.55. The bank anticipates reporting earnings of $0.35 to $0.40 per share in 2025 and between $0.50 and $0.60 in 2026. Net interest income is pegged at $2.40 billion to $2.45 billion this year, $2.60 billion to $2.70 billion in 2025 and $2.90 billion to $3.10 billion in 2026.

"While this year will be a transitional year for the company, we have a clear path to profitability over the following two years," Chief Executive Joseph Otting said in a statement. The company is aiming for "significantly higher" profitability and higher capital levels by the end of 2026, he said. This includes a return on average earnings assets of 1% and a return on average tangible common equity of 11% to 12%.

In the first quarter, New York Community Bancorp ( NYCB/PU ) took several actions to enable a return to long-term sustainable profitability, Otting said on an earnings conference call, according to a Capital IQ transcripts. The measures include the completion of a $1.05 billion equity raise anchored by Liberty Strategic Capital, along with Hudson Bay Capital Management, Reverence Capital Partners and Citadel Global Equities, said Otting, who became New York Community Bancorp's ( NYCB/PU ) CEO April 1.

New York Community Bancorp ( NYCB/PU ) shares were up nearly 30% in Wednesday afternoon trade.

For the quarter through March 31, the company swung to an adjusted net loss of $0.25 a share from a $0.23 profit a year earlier, while revenue plunged 76% to $633 million. Analysts polled by Capital IQ were looking for a normalized loss of $0.13 on revenue of $794.6 million.

For the first quarter, the provision for credit losses were $315 million, compared with a $170 million provision a year earlier. "We anticipate an elevated level of loan loss provision over the remainder of 2024 related to the potential for market and rate conditions to impact borrower performance on certain portions of our loan portfolio," Otting said in a statement.

For the year so far, the company's share price is down nearly 66%. The lender has been under pressure since the end of January when it swung to a fourth-quarter adjusted loss amid higher provisions linked to its exposure to the commercial real estate portfolio.

Price: 3.37, Change: +0.72, Percent Change: +26.98