The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, Feb. 18, edition that as we approach the earnings season for the first quarter of 2026, National Bank Financial analyst Gabriel Dechaine believes that Canadian banks possess defensive characteristics that are appealing in the current economic environment. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Dechaine sees the banks as being well positioned for positive earnings per share revisions, especially given the relatively low expectations in areas such as capital markets and credit. Mr. Dechaine says in a note: "Bank stocks are up 2 per cent so far this year, underperforming the S&P/TSX by 180 basis points. This performance isn't surprising, considering Big-Six bank stocks typically underperform the market in the first half of the year (i.e., 10 of the last 12 years). For the stocks to improve momentum, positive EPS revisions are a necessity. Encouragingly, they have merited this treatment in each of the past four quarters." Accordingly, Mr. Dechaine boosted his share target for Bank of Montreal, which he rates "sector perform," to $186 from $181. Analysts on average target the shares at $197.50.