Wells Fargo earnings top estimates on $1.05 billion release of loan loss reserves

Wells Fargo reported earnings and revenue that beat expectations for its first-quarter on Wednesday.

Here’s how the results stacked up to expectations.

Earnings: $1.05 in earnings per share versus 70 cents a share expected, according to Refinitiv.
Revenue: $18.06 billion versus $17.5 billion expected.

Wells Fargo results were helped by a net benefit of $1.05 billion from reserve releases.

CEO Charlie Scharf, who took over in late 2019, is running a company that is still recovering from the aftermath of its 2016 fake accounts scandal. Analysts will be keen to hear about any progress the bank is making in appeasing regulators, especially regarding a Federal Reserve order that caps the bank’s asset growth.

Of the six biggest U.S. banks, Wells Fargo has the smallest Wall Street trading and investment banking operations, areas that have been on fire in recent months thanks to a red-hot IPO market and unprecedented Fed support.

Last year, Wells Fargo was the only bank among the six biggest U.S. lenders to be forced to cut its dividend after the annual Federal Reserve stress test. The firm also posted its first quarterly loss since the financial crisis and announced it was cutting billions of dollars in expenses.  

Wells Fargo shares have climbed 33% this year, exceeding the 25% gain of the KBW Bank Index.

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