This study was intended to compare financial performance of three giant commercial banks in Tanzania from 2000 to 2009 with special reference to CRDB, NMB and NBC. The commercial banks, microfinance institutions and other non banking institutions have been increased due to the growth opportunity in the economy. The study was meant to make a comparative analysis of financial performance in such growing economy of the commercial banks and test the applicability of financial distress. The study utilized mainly secondary data. Although the main sources were secondary data, personal interviews were used to supplement the secondary data. Both qualitative and quantitative tools of analysis were employed to test the hypotheses. CAMEL analysis was employed to measure the financial conditions and stability of the commercial banks. The researcher employed Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and MDA