Updated 13 October 2026. Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) traded at $82.85 at 9:32 a.m. ET, down 0.6 percent from Monday’s $83.32 close after trading as low as $80.57 in the opening minutes (Yahoo Finance), after reporting third-quarter earnings of $1.87 a share, up 13 percent from a year earlier, on revenue of $21.87 billion (company release). EPS beat the $1.85 Zacks consensus, but revenue missed the $22.15 billion estimate, and the beat leaned on $170 million of one-off tax benefits. Verdict: a clean quarter on credit and costs, a soft one on fee income. The stock needs net interest income to keep growing to recover its 2026 losses. Reference levels: $75 below, $93.20 above.
Key facts
- Earnings: net income $5.95 billion, or $1.87 a diluted share, against $5.59 billion and $1.66 a year earlier (Wells Fargo release, 13 October). Second-quarter EPS was $2.00.
- The tax item: income tax expense included $170 million of discrete tax benefits from resolving prior-period matters (release). By our estimate that is worth roughly 5 cents a share, which would put EPS just below the $1.85 consensus without it.
- Revenue: $21.87 billion, up 2 percent from $21.44 billion, short of the $22.15 billion Zacks consensus.
- Net interest income: $12.52 billion, up 5 percent year on year. Net interest margin held at 2.43 percent, flat on the second quarter and down from 2.61 percent a year ago (release).
- Noninterest income: $9.35 billion, down 1 percent, as lower trading gains, venture capital results, mortgage income and lease income (after the rail car leasing sale) offset higher advisory, investment banking and card fees.
- Costs and credit: noninterest expense fell 1 percent to $13.74 billion, helped by an 8 percent cut in headcount. Net loan charge-offs were $983 million, or 0.38 percent of loans, down from 0.40 percent a year ago; provision for credit losses rose to $1.03 billion from $681 million as loan balances grew.
- Growth and returns: average loans up 11 percent to $1.03 trillion, average deposits up 11 percent to $1.48 trillion; return on tangible common equity 16.3 percent versus 15.2 percent. The bank bought back 28.6 million shares for $2.5 billion in the quarter, and its CET1 ratio was 10.0 percent.
What the numbers say
The balance sheet is doing what investors hoped it would after the Federal Reserve lifted the bank’s asset cap in 2025. Loans and deposits both grew 11 percent in a year, and every one of the four operating segments grew revenue: Wealth and Investment Management by 12 percent, Commercial Banking by 6 percent, Consumer Banking and Lending by 5 percent and Corporate and Investment Banking by 3 percent, according to chief executive Charlie Scharf.
The weak line was fee income. Trading gains fell, venture capital investments returned less, and the bank no longer collects rail car lease income after selling that business in the first quarter. Markets revenue was “relatively stable” from a year ago, Scharf said, with equities up 21 percent offsetting weaker fixed income. That is why revenue came in about $280 million below the consensus even as net interest income grew.
Credit gave no cause for alarm. Consumer charge-offs fell to 0.70 percent annualised and nonperforming assets dropped $585 million in the quarter. The one soft spot was commercial lending, where the charge-off rate rose to 0.18 percent from 0.10 percent on higher commercial real estate and commercial and industrial losses.
Scharf’s outlook was guarded but not defensive. He said higher interest rates, higher oil prices and persistent inflation create risks to the economy, but that AI infrastructure investment, high employment and steady wage growth “continue to outweigh the risks.”
Why the stock reacted the way it did
Wells Fargo came into the print down about 10.6 percent for 2026, from $93.20 at the end of 2025 to $83.32 on Monday (Yahoo Finance). The share price slid from about $90 in mid-September to a $78.00 intraday low on 1 October as investors worried about margin pressure and rising rates, then recovered on the Kraken report. The bank kept its 2026 net interest income guidance of about $50 billion after the second quarter (Zacks); with $12.52 billion booked in the third quarter, the fourth quarter has to deliver roughly the same pace for that to hold. Investors will want that confirmed on the call, along with the margin outlook after the flat 2.43 percent.
The other banks reporting on Tuesday set the tone. JPMorgan missed estimates on both earnings and revenue, with fixed income trading at $5.37 billion against about $6 billion expected, while Goldman Sachs and Citigroup also reported before the open.
Wells Fargo stock: bull, base and bear
| Scenario | Price | What has to happen | Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bear | $75 | Management trims the roughly $50 billion NII guide on the call, Wednesday’s CPI print lifts rate-hike bets further, and commercial real estate losses keep rising. | Below the $78.00 intraday low of 1 October, about halfway to the 2026 low of $72.78 set on 15 May (Yahoo Finance). |
| Base | $78-$87 | NII guidance holds, buybacks continue at about $2.5 billion a quarter, and the stock trades with the sector on rates. | The range between the 1 October low and the mid-September level before the slide. |
| Bull | $93.20 | Management raises NII guidance or lifts its return target, fee income recovers, and a crypto trading deal with Kraken’s parent is confirmed. | The 31 December 2025 close, which would erase the 2026 loss. |
The bear case sits below the current price and below the October low. The bull case is only a return to where the stock started the year, not a new high: the 52-week peak is $97.76, set on 5 January. Bank of America’s Ebrahim Poonawala had a Buy rating and a $102 target as of 7 July, before the September slide; expect targets to move after the call.
The Kraken question
Wells Fargo has been reported to be in talks with Payward, the parent of Kraken, to supply crypto trading to its customers. The bank’s results release does not mention crypto. The call, at 10:00 a.m. ET, is the first chance for analysts to ask about it. We covered what to listen for in our earnings preview on the Kraken talks and the original report in Wells Fargo’s talks with Kraken’s parent.
What to watch next
- The call, 10:00 a.m. ET today: any change to the roughly $50 billion 2026 NII guide, the fourth-quarter margin, and the pace of buybacks with CET1 at 10.0 percent.
- Wednesday 14 October, 8:30 a.m. ET: US September CPI. A hot print would raise the odds of a Fed hike and put pressure on deposit costs; our week-ahead note covers the calendar.
- Commercial credit: the commercial charge-off rate nearly doubled quarter on quarter. Another rise would challenge the clean-credit story.
- Peer reaction: Bank of America reports on Wednesday 14 October (company announcement); its NII and trading numbers will move the whole group.
Quick take: Wells Fargo’s third quarter showed what a bank without an asset cap looks like: 11 percent loan and deposit growth, lower costs, falling consumer losses and a 16.3 percent return on tangible equity. What it did not show is fee growth, and the EPS beat rests partly on a $170 million tax benefit. At $82.85 the stock sits in the $78-$87 base range. A confirmed NII guide on the call keeps it there; a raise opens the path back to $93.20, and a cut puts $75 in play.
FAQ
Did Wells Fargo beat earnings in the third quarter of 2026?
On earnings, yes: $1.87 a share against a $1.85 Zacks consensus. On revenue, no: $21.87 billion against about $22.15 billion expected. The EPS figure included $170 million of discrete tax benefits.
Why is Wells Fargo stock moving today?
Investors are weighing a modest EPS beat against a revenue miss driven by weaker fee income, lower trading gains and lower venture capital results, on a day when JPMorgan also missed estimates.
What was Wells Fargo’s net interest income?
$12.52 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 5 percent from $11.95 billion a year earlier. The net interest margin was 2.43 percent.
What is Wells Fargo’s 2026 NII guidance?
After the second quarter the bank guided to about $50 billion of net interest income for 2026 (Zacks). Watch the 10:00 a.m. ET call on 13 October for any update.
How much stock did Wells Fargo buy back?
28.6 million shares for $2.5 billion in the third quarter, according to the release.
Could Wells Fargo stock fall to $75?
That is our bear case. It would need a cut to NII guidance, a hot CPI print and further commercial real estate losses. It sits below the $78.00 low of 1 October.
Is Wells Fargo launching crypto trading?
Not confirmed. Reports say it is in talks with Kraken’s parent, Payward. The third-quarter results release does not mention crypto.
Sources: Wells Fargo third-quarter 2026 earnings release and Form 8-K (13 October 2026); Zacks Investment Research (EPS and revenue consensus, NII guidance); Yahoo Finance (share prices, 2025 close, 52-week range); Benzinga and Investing.com (JPMorgan results and fixed income trading, 13 October); TipRanks/The Fly (Bank of America target, July 2026).
This article is for information only and is not investment advice. Share prices move continuously and the figures above were accurate at the time of writing. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Do your own research and consider your own circumstances before investing.