Oppenheimer Reports Beter-Than-Expected Credit On Capital One

According to Oppenheimer, Capital One Financial Corp COF announced a $2.0B common stock offering related to the previously announced ING Direct acquisition (ie., no surprise), and announced its 2Q11 results a week earlier than would normally have been its custom. Oppenheimer said that the bottom line EPS comparison of $1.97 vs. the $1.89 and consensus of $1.68 are not meaningful because reserve releases distort all the comparisons. “Pre-provision earnings were $1,738M vs. our expectation of $1,887M, and $1,920M in the prior quarter. The weakness came in particular on the fee income side, which came in at $857M vs. our expectation of $910M and the 1Q11 level of $942M.” Capital One Financial Corp closed yesterday at $50.87.