Friday marks the start of the fourth-quarter earnings season for the financial sector, with Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase kicking it off early Friday morning.
Starting out, Wells Fargo is viewed as a great read on the pulse of the American economy since 97% of its revenue comes from the U.S, meaning investors will be paying close attention to the bank’s mortgage business, a briefing.com report explains.
Wells Fargo is projected to post revenue of $22.304 billion.
There are still a lot of factors on the line for Wells Fargo, as FBR Capital Markets & Co. points out.
FBR predicts that the stock “will remain range-bound until they are able to get more clarity into ongoing regulatory investigations, the recently announced independent audit, and the steps still needed to be taken in order to put the sales practice issue in the rear-view mirror.”
Without further details in those areas, FBR noted that sentiments over Wells Fargo fundamentals will likely drive bank shares.
As it stands, the bank is still cleaning up from its massive account scandal that involved 5,000 of the bank’s former employees opening as many as 2 million credit card and bank accounts without authorization in order to get sales bonuses.
The latest update from Wells Fargo on the matter outlines how the bank’s new pay plan is going to work, purposing a new system away from the method that got the bank into the account scandal.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase is project to post EPS of $1.43 and net income of $5.14 billion on revenue of $23.47 billion.
The briefing.com report noted that JPMorgan stock has rallied 26% since the elections, running to $86, which marks the best levels in the stock's history.
Projections aren’t too different for Bank of America, with the bank’s shares surging 43% since the election.
Bank of America is forecasted to report EPS of $0.38, net income of $4.05 billion, on revenue of $21.09 billion for the fourth quarter.
