(Bloomberg) -- M&T Bank Corp. shares jumped the most in two years after boosting its 2024 outlook for net interest income, a key source of revenue. 

The Buffalo-based lender said it now expects NII of $6.8 billion or more this year, with markets pricing in roughly two interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve before the end of 2024. The company had previously forecast NII of $6.7 billion to $6.8 billion.

“Whether we get two cuts, three cuts or no cuts, we’re going to probably pretty much be pretty comfortable with $6.8 billion-plus, in that range,” Chief Financial Officer Daryl Bible said on a conference call with analysts. 

Shares soared as much as 8.1%, the stock’s biggest gain in intraday trading since April 2022. M&T was the best performer among banking peers and in the S&P 500.

The firm reported total deposits that were higher than analysts expected. M&T, meanwhile, has been working to shrink its exposure to commercial real estate, and average commercial-property loans declined by $2.5 billion from a year earlier. Net charge-offs for commercial real estate debt declined from the fourth quarter.

S&P Global Ratings last month lowered its outlook on five regional lenders, including M&T, due to high commercial real estate exposure. Bible said on the call that the firm is comfortable the move won’t result in a downgrade.

Read More: US Regional Banks Challenged by Commercial Property, S&P Says

“We feel that we’ve got strategies in place to, over time, get that to be less of a risk in the balance sheet from a credit perspective,” he said. “We come to work every day and I’m excited to be working the professionals that we have in our commercial and credit teams. They’re working their asses off each and every day.”

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