5 Stocks That Surpassed Earnings Expectations

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1. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 94

Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) rose more than five percent in the morning trading session on Friday, 15 October 2021, after the banking giant surpassed expectations for the third quarter.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) reported earnings of $1.17 per share for the three months ended 30 September 2021, up from 70 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue for the quarter came in at $18.834 billion, down from $19.316 billion in the comparable period of 2020. The results exceeded analysts’ average estimate of $1 per share for earnings and $18.273 billion for revenue.

If we look at the important growth indicators, net interest income for the quarter slipped 5 percent on a year-over-year basis to $8.909 billion amid lower loan balances. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) reported that average loans for the quarter decreased 8 percent to $854.0 billion. On the bright side, average deposits for the quarter rose 4 percent to $1.451 trillion.

In addition, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) announced that it repurchased $5.3 billion worth of its common stock during the quarter. Moreover, it also raised the dividend from 10 cents per share to 20 cents per share.

Follow Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Speaking on the results, CEO Charlie Scharf said:

“The actions we’re taking to improve operating effectiveness and financial returns are coming through in our results, in addition to the benefits we’re experiencing from the economic recovery. We recorded a $1.7 billion pre-tax reduction in the allowance for credit losses and had strong equity gains. More importantly, charge-offs were low, net interest income stabilized and period-end loans grew for the first time since first quarter 2020. Expenses continued to decline as we made progress on our efficiency initiatives, and we increased our capital return to shareholders by repurchasing $5.3 billion of common stock and increasing our dividend.”

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