On this episode of Stock Movers:
- Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) missed analysts’ profit estimates as severance costs drove up expenses.The bank spent $612 million on severance as part of a plan designed to cut costs. Expenses were $13.7 billion, compared with the $13.6 billion predicted by analysts in a Bloomberg survey, according to a statement Wednesday.
- Bank of America's (BAC) equity traders posted their best fourth quarter ever as the company reaped the benefits of volatile markets and net interest income topped analysts’ estimates. Revenue from equity trading rose 23% to $2.02 billion in the final three months of the year, according to a statement Wednesday. Analysts had been expecting equity-markets revenue of close to $1.9 billion. That helped give Bank of America earnings of 98 cents a share, topping analysts’ estimates.
- After years of lagging behind peers on Wall Street, Citigroup’s (C) dealmakers are narrowing the gap.Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser’s bank posted an 84% surge in financial advisory fees in the fourth quarter, capping a year in which the firm’s revenue from handling mergers rose by more than half to an all-time record. The haul, announced in an earnings report Wednesday, defied larger rival JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s relatively sluggish growth in that business — up just 6% in 2025.