What to Expect From Citigroup and Wells Fargo Earnings

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) set the standard for the other major banks when it reported its second-quarter results early on Thursday. Known for its ironclad balance sheet, JPMorgan performed exceedingly well in this report. Now what’s next is for Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) to report their earnings. But can they live up to JPMorgan’s standard?

Also as it would seem, JPMorgan’s earnings lifted the market, giving a little more faith to the U.S. financial sector, as well as the rally that we are currently experiencing. But still these banks will have to prove to Wall Street and Main Street alike that they can operate profitability in a climate with stubbornly low interest rates.

As we have mentioned before, all the major U.S. banks passed the Federal Reserve’s stress tests with strong capital positions, which makes another “Lehman moment” unlikely to occur and threaten the entire global banking system.

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What analysts are saying going into this earnings report is that tangible book value per share will be the true indicator of performance. As of the most recent earnings season, and out of all the major banks, Citigroup trades at the largest discount to tangible book value, while Wells Fargo trades at the highest premium, which might pose some interesting questions for this coming report.

Based on tangible book value metric, Citigroup could stand to make a solid run, but there’s more to the story. The Fed also recently approved Citigroup’s plan to more than triple its dividend. Considering a strong earnings report, Citi’s shares could make a run to account for the discount it trades at and to adjust for the dividend yield.

Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates for Citigroup calling for $1.10 in earnings per share (EPS) on $17.47 billion in revenue. In the same period of last year, it posted $1.51 in EPS on $19.16 billion in revenue.

While Wells Fargo trades at a premium to its book value, this bank is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with a whopping $1.8 trillion in assets. It has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy, but its main exposure is in the United States, which was an excellent hedge to Brexit woes relative to the other major banks.

The consensus estimates for Wells Fargo are $1.01 in EPS on $22.17 billion in revenue. The same period last year had $1.03 in EPS on $21.32 billion in revenue.

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Shares of JPMorgan were trading up 1.6% to $64.16 on Thursday, with a consensus analyst price target of $69.93 and a 52-week trading range of $50.07 to $70.61.

Citigroup shares were up 2.4% at $44.37. The consensus price target is $54.63 and the 52-week range is $34.52 to $60.95.

Wells Fargo was trading up just over 1% at $48.79, with a consensus price target of $53.45 and a 52-week range of $44.50 to $58.77.