Wells Fargo announced its third-quarter financial results on Tuesday, reporting revenue that fell short of analyst estimates while earnings per share slightly exceeded them. The bank’s shares closed down 2% following the release of the report for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2026.
The company reported total revenue of $21.9 billion, a 2% increase year over year but below the $22.3 billion consensus estimate compiled by LSEG. Earnings per share rose 13% from the prior year to $1.87, which was above the $1.85 analyst consensus.
A key metric, net interest margin (NIM), which measures the difference between what a bank earns on loans and pays on deposits, stabilized at 2.43%. According to the bank, this figure ended four consecutive quarters of sequential declines and was higher than the 2.41% that analysts had expected. The company attributed the performance to higher cash and securities balances and lower funding costs.
The bank’s non-interest expenses were $112 million below FactSet consensus estimates. However, the company’s efficiency ratio, a measure of non-interest expenses per dollar of revenue, was 63%, slightly higher than the 62.1% estimate, indicating a lower level of efficiency than anticipated.
In its segment results, Wells Fargo reported year-over-year revenue growth across several divisions:
Wealth and Investment Management: Revenue increased 12%.
Commercial Banking: Revenue grew 6%, attributed to higher deposit and loan balances.
Consumer Banking and Lending: Revenue rose 5%.
Corporate and Investment Banking: Revenue was up 3%.
Within its investment banking unit, the company noted an increase in its equity capital market share to 3.9%, up 84 basis points. It also improved its ranking in announced U.S. mergers and acquisitions volume to No. 6, up from No. 9 in the same period last year.
Wells Fargo reported that its consumer credit metrics remained stable, with the bank’s charge-off ratio falling from the previous quarter and the year-ago period. The bank also repurchased $2.5 billion of its stock during the third quarter.
Looking ahead, Wells Fargo reiterated its full-year 2026 guidance for net interest income at approximately $50 billion. For the fourth quarter, the bank projects net interest income of about $13 billion, which is above the FactSet consensus estimate of $12.86 billion. The company also maintained its forecast for non-interest expenses for the year at about $55.7 billion.
