The super-regional bank cited "a material slowdown" in investment banking and trading income as one reason for the lower revenue forecast. Interest rates are also a factor, executives said.

The North Carolina-based bank rolled out a multiyear program to provide loans, investments and philanthropic support to communities in the western part of the state.

The North Carolina-based company expects its revenue to outpace expenses next year — a goal that has proven elusive over the five years of Truist's existence.

When the superregional bank sold its insurance business for $10.1 billion, it laid out three ways to use the proceeds: buybacks, a balance sheet repositioning and loan growth. The latter plan is so far proving to be elusive.

After several quarters of slumping investment banking and trading fees, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company reported a big uptick from that division, which helped compensate for a large decline in net interest income.

The Charlotte, North Carolina, company has agreed to sell its remaining 80% stake in its insurance brokerage unit to raise billions of dollars in cash and extra capital. The "wild card" is how Truist will deploy them, one analyst says.

The North Carolina-based company said it expects to close about 4% of its branch network, or roughly 80 offices, by the end of the first quarter. The closures come amid Truist's $750 million cost-cutting initiative.

Across the industry, the pace of branch shutdowns slowed this year. Still, large financial institutions continued to trim their physical footprints, with two super-regional banks taking the most aggressive actions.

The Charlotte, North Carolina, company plans to fold the online consumer lending platform LightStream into its broader consumer business. On top of a recent pullback in bond trading, it may also make further reductions in its mortgage business and occupied real estate.