Wells Fargo stock drops after profit halved but topped expectations, while revenue missed

Shares of Wells Fargo & Co.
WFC,
+3.25%
slumped 2.6% in premarket trading Friday, after the bank reported fourth-quarter profit that was more than halved but topped expectations, while revenue fell short. Net income fell to $2.59 billion, or 67 cents a share, from $5.47 billion, or $1.38 a share, in the year-ago period. That beat above the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of 60 cents. Total revenue declined 5.7% to $19.66 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $19.99 billion, while net interest income climbed 45.0% to $13.43 billion to top expectations of $12.97 billion. The bank, which said earlier this week that it was shrinking its home-mortgage business and exiting the correspondent business, said consumer banking and lending loans increased 4% and commercial banking loans climbed 18%. Provision for credit losses was $957 million. The stock has tacked on 1.1% over the past three months through Thursday, while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF
WFC,
+3.25%
has rallied 13.7% and the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.40%
has advanced 8.5%.