As Wells Fargo gets ready to report on Thursday morning, investors are preparing for its earnings to be lower than 2015, according to an article by Ciara Linnane for MarketWatch.
From the article:
The fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets, and its biggest mortgage lender, is expected to reflect the pressure being exerted by low, or even negative interest rates on earnings. The Federal Reserve has signaled it will slow its planned schedule of interest-rate hikes this year in a move expected to weigh on net interest margins, the difference between what a bank can charge for loans and what it pays out on deposits.
Adding to the gloom is Wells Fargo’s exposure to soured loans in the energy and materials sector. The bank has said it expects greater losses in 2016 from its portfolio, one of the biggest in the industry, if current low prices persist.
The EPS is expected to be 98 cents, based on 425 estimates from Estimize, which collects answers from sell-side analysts, hedge-fund executives, brokerages and buy-side analysts and academics, according to the article.
The company’s expected revenue is $21.669 billion, according to Estimize, up from $21.278 last year, according to the article.
Share prices at Wells Fargo fell 13% so far this year, according to the article.
Last quarter earnings were up slightly from the fourth quarter 2014. Net income came in at $5.7 billion or $1.03 per share, revenue increased 1% to $21.6 billion.
Earlier this year, Wells Fargo lost nearly $1 million due to a fraud scheme when the houses involved were forced into foreclosures.
