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A Citibank branch in Hong Kong.
Vincent Isore | IP3 | Getty Images
Citigroup reported Tuesday quarterly results that easily beat analyst expectations, driven by strong fixed-income trading revenues along with growing sales from the bank’s consumer business.
Here’s what analysts are expecting to see from the banking giant’s results:
- Earnings: $1.90 per share vs. $1.84 per share expected by Refinitiv
- Revenue: $18.378 billion vs. Refinitiv forecast of $17.855 billion
- Fixed income trading: $2.9 billion vs. FactSet estimate of $1.24 billion
- Equities trading: $516 million vs. $673.7 million forecast
The stock rose 0.9% after the results were released.
Citigroup’s bond-trading revenues represent a 49% surge from the year-earlier period. The bank said the strong results reflext a recovery from the fourth quarter of 2018 along with “strong performance, particularly in rates and spread products.”
Citigroup shares are coming off their best year since 1999, surging more than 53% in 2019. Those gains outpaced those of rival banks J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. J.P. Morgan and Bank of America both rose more than 40% last year, while Wells Fargo advances just 16.8%.
Wells Fargo banking analyst Mike Mayo raised last month his price target on the stock to $97 per share from $85 per share, telling CNBC’s “Fast Money” it’s his favorite banking stock “because it’s just so inexpensive and they’re buying back so many stock.” Goldman Sachs also added Citigroup to its conviction buy list last week while Bank of America called it its “pick of the decade.”
Still, expectations for Citigroup are high heading into its earnings release. Refinitiv’s profit estimate represents a 14% year-over-year jump from $1.61 per share.
J.P. Morgan Chase reported fourth-quarter earnings earlier on Tuesday, topping analyst expectations as its bond-trading revenue skyrocketed by nearly 90%. The bank also posted a record profit for 2019.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
