Despite March's banking crisis, big banks beat estimates across the board: JPM, WFC, PNC, C

JPMorgan stock rose 5.7% on earnings beat.
Wells Fargo stock rose 4.1%.
PNC beat earnings but missed revenue estimates.
Citigroup beat earnings consensus, but revenue rose the lowest YoY of the four banks.

Clay Webster FXStreet

Forget about March! While that month may have taken a sledge hammer to regional banks like First Republic (FRC) and PacWest Bancorp (PACW), the big national banks on Wall Street made a killing. Higher interest rates on variable loans helped JPMorgan (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C) and PNC Financial (PNC) beat Wall Street earnings estimates by a mile.

Bank earnings: JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, PNC Financial, Citigroup

JPMorgan reported first quarter earnings of $4.10 per share on revenue of $38.3 billion. This beat Wall Street consensus of $3.41 per share on revenue of $34.77 billion. Revenue rose 25% YoY largely on higher interest rates charged to variable rate borrowers. JPM stock surged 5.7% to $136.34.

Wells Fargo earned $1.23 per share, beating consensus by 11 cents. Revenue of $20.73 billion bested Wall Street by $670 million and rose 18% YoY. WFC stock jumped 4.1% to $41.28 on the news.

PNC Financial reported Q1 earnings of $3.98 per share, overachieving consensus by 34 cents. Revenue of $5.6 billion missed consensus by just $10 million but rose 19% YoY. Net interest income dropped about $100 million YoY due primarily to higher funding costs. PNC stock rose 0.5% to $122.

Citigroup reported $1.86 in adjusted EPS, which beat consensus by 17 cents. Revenue of $21.4 billion beat consensus by $1.34 billion and rose 12% YoY. Citigroup stock rose 1.5% to $48.

Despite the good news, all four banks raised their allowances for credit losses in the quarter.

Bank stock chart

The KBW NASDAQ Bank Index is down 19.2% year to date. The only one of these four stocks underperforming is PNC, which is a major bank but more regional than the other three. PNC stock is down 24% year to date. Citigroup was the best performing and is up 3% year to date. JPMorgan and Wells Fargo are down 4.5% and 5.1%, respectively.

KBW NASDAQ Bank Index daily chart

Author

Clay Webster

FXStreet

Clay Webster grew up in the US outside Buffalo, New York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He began investing after college following the 2008 financial crisis.

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