Wells Fargo bank signage is seen on Broadway on April 12, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Wells Fargo reported lower earnings and revenue in the third quarter than a year ago on Friday amid a sizable decline in net interest income.
Here’s what the bank did compared with Wall Street estimates, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $1.42 per share, not comparable to the $1.28 cents estimate
- Revenue: $20.37 billion versus $20.42 billion expected
Shares of the bank rose 3% in premarket trading after the results.
The San Francisco-based lender posted $11.69 billion in net interest income, a key measure of what a bank makes on lending. The number marked an 11% decrease from the same quarter last year that was less than the FactSet estimate of $11.9 billion. Wells said the decline was due to higher funding costs amid customer migration to higher yielding deposit products.
“Our earnings profile is very different than it was five years ago as we have been making strategic investments in many of our businesses and de-emphasizing or selling others,” CEO Charles Scharf said in a statement. “Our revenue sources are more diverse and fee-based revenue grew 16% during the first nine months of the year, largely offsetting net interest income headwinds.”
Wells saw net income fall to $5.11 billion, or $1.42 per share, in the third quarter, from $5.77 billion, or $1.48 per share, during the same quarter a year ago. Revenue dipped to $20.37 billion from $20.86 a year ago.
The bank set aside $1.07 billion as provision for credit losses, which included a modest decrease in the allowance for credit losses.
Wells repurchased $3.5 billion of common stock in the third quarter, bringing the nine-month total to over $15 billion, which marks a 60% increase from a year ago.
The bank’s shares have gained 17% in 2024, lagging the S&P 500.
