Quick Verdict
Wells Fargo reported third-quarter earnings of $1.87 per share on revenue of $21.87 billion, beating earnings expectations but missing revenue forecasts. Net income increased 6% year over year as lending expanded and expenses declined. Shares reportedly closed 3.10% lower on October 13, reflecting a mixed response from investors.
About Wells Fargo & Company
Wells Fargo & Company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker WFC, is a diversified financial services company founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial financing services. Its four reportable operating segments are Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.
The company describes its asset base as approximately $2.3 trillion, while average assets during the third quarter reached $2.24 trillion. Average loans totaled $1.03 trillion, and average deposits reached $1.48 trillion, illustrating the scale of its lending and funding franchise. During the quarter, Wells Fargo increased its common dividend to $0.50 per share and repurchased $2.5 billion of common stock. A verified, announcement-date market capitalization and trailing P/E ratio were not established from the reviewed materials; neither is estimated here to avoid presenting unsupported valuation figures as current data.
Top Financial Highlights
- Total revenue: $21.870 billion, up 2% year over year, but down 3% sequentially.
- Net income: $5.951 billion, compared with $5.589 billion a year earlier, an increase of approximately 6.5%.
- Diluted EPS: $1.87, up approximately 12.7% from $1.66 in Q3 2025.
- Net interest income: $12.517 billion, up 5% year over year and 2% sequentially.
- Gross margin: Not reported in the reviewed earnings release. Wells Fargo instead disclosed a 2.43% net interest margin, versus 2.61% a year earlier; these are different measures and should not be treated as interchangeable.
- Noninterest expense: $13.743 billion, down $103 million year over year. The efficiency ratio improved to 63% from 65%.
- Consumer Banking and Lending revenue: $10.656 billion, up 5% year over year.
- Corporate and Investment Banking revenue: $5.008 billion, up 3% year over year.
- Wealth and Investment Management revenue: $4.104 billion, up 12% year over year.
- Commercial Banking revenue: $3.236 billion, up 6% year over year.
- Credit-loss provision: $1.029 billion, compared with $681 million a year earlier. The net loan charge-off ratio was 0.38%, versus 0.40% in Q3 2025.
- Next-quarter guidance: Management expects approximately $13 billion of Q4 2026 net interest income and a net interest margin broadly stable with Q3. Full-year guidance remains approximately $50 billion of net interest income and $55.7 billion of noninterest expense.
- Cash on hand and liquidity: A cash-and-cash-equivalents balance was not established from the reviewed materials. The bank reported a preliminary liquidity coverage ratio of 122%; this is a liquidity measure, not a cash balance.
- Capital and shareholder returns: The preliminary Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio was 10.0%. Wells Fargo repurchased 28.6 million shares for $2.5 billion during the quarter.
Beat or Miss?
Wells Fargo delivered an earnings beat but a revenue miss. CNBC’s earnings coverage reported expected EPS of $1.85 and revenue of $22.3 billion; the comparison below consistently uses that estimate set. Other coverage carried slightly different consensus figures, reflecting differences among estimates providers.
| Metric | Reported | Difference/Analysis |
| Diluted EPS | $1.87 | Beat the $1.85 estimate by $0.02 per share, or approximately 1.1%. |
| Total revenue | $21.870 billion | Missed the $22.300 billion estimate by $430 million, or approximately 1.9%. |
| Net income | $5.951 billion | Consensus estimate: N/A in the selected coverage. Increased approximately 6.5% year over year. |
| Net interest income | $12.517 billion | Increased approximately 4.7% year over year; a comparable consensus figure was not established. |
| Noninterest expense | $13.743 billion | Declined approximately 0.7% year over year; a comparable consensus figure was not established. |
Earnings quality also warrants attention: Q3 income tax expense included $170 million of discrete tax benefits related to resolving prior-period matters. Meanwhile, revenue growth across all four operating segments was partly offset by weaker venture-capital investment results and lower lease income following the first-quarter sale of the railcar leasing business.
What Leadership Is Saying
CEO Charlie Scharf emphasized investment-led growth and disciplined risk-taking:
“Our North Star remains the same. Invest in our people, products, technology, and marketing for the long term, but show consistent progress in growing revenue and returns in the short term without taking outsized risks or growing in ways that is not consistent with our long-term vision for Wells Fargo.”
CFO Mike Santomassimo highlighted expense control and improving operating efficiency:
“Non-interest expense declined $103 million from a year ago, and our efficiency ratio improved to 63%, down two percentage points year-over-year.”
Together, the comments describe management’s approach: use efficiency savings to support investment while expanding revenue and returns. The results show progress on annual expense control, although the efficiency ratio increased sequentially from 60% in Q2 to 63% in Q3 as quarterly revenue declined.
Historical Performance Wells Fargo: Q3 2026 versus Q3 2025
Amounts are in USD millions, except EPS and percentages.
| Category | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change (%) |
| Revenue | $21,870 | $21,436 | 2.00% |
| Net income | $5,951 | $5,589 | 6.50% |
| Operating expenses—noninterest expense | $13,743 | $13,846 | −0.7% |
| Diluted EPS | $1.87 | $1.66 | 12.70% |
| Net interest income | $12,517 | $11,950 | 4.70% |
| Provision for credit losses | $1,029 | $681 | 51.10% |
(Source: Wells Fargo’s Q3 2026 earnings release. Percentage changes are calculated from the displayed figures and may differ from the company’s whole-percentage rounding)
EPS increased faster than net income as Wells Fargo continued repurchasing shares. Average loans and deposits each grew approximately 11%, supporting net interest income, while lower expenses helped profitability. However, the higher credit-loss provision and a decline in net interest margin from 2.61% to 2.43% remain important counterweights to the growth story.
Competitor comparison: Citigroup, Q3 2026 versus Q3 2025
Citigroup also released third-quarter results on October 13, 2026, providing a same-period peer comparison. Amounts below are in USD millions and use reported results rather than adjusted figures.
| Category | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change (%) |
| Revenue | $23,845 | $22,090 | 7.90% |
| Net income attributable to Citigroup | $5,245 | $3,752 | 39.80% |
| Operating expenses | $13,952 | $14,290 | −2.4% |
(Source: Citigroup’s Q3 2026 earnings release. Changes are calculated from the displayed figures.)
Citigroup generated faster reported revenue and net-income growth than Wells Fargo. However, Citi’s prior-year expenses included a $726 million goodwill impairment, or $714 million after tax, associated with its agreement to sell a 25% stake in Banamex. That depressed the comparison base: excluding the item, Citi said expenses increased 3%, rather than declining 2%, and prior-year net income was approximately $4.5 billion. Its headline profit growth therefore should not be interpreted as entirely underlying operating improvement.
How the Market Reacted?
Wells Fargo shares reportedly closed 3.10% lower on October 13, according to TradingKey’s market recap; this closing move was not independently corroborated in the other reviewed sources. The results presented mixed signals: EPS exceeded the selected consensus estimate, but revenue fell short, and reported earnings included a $170 million discrete tax benefit.
Management’s unchanged full-year net interest income and expense guidance offered continuity, while the anticipated increase to approximately $13 billion in fourth-quarter net interest income provided a potential near-term growth driver.
