Charles Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger Weighs In On Earnings Results: 'It Was Simply Outstanding'

Charles Schwab Corporation SCHW is trading lower Tuesday after the company announced fourth-quarter financial results.

What Happened: Schwab reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 86 cents per share, which came in just below the estimate of 87 cents per share. The company reported quarterly revenue of $4.71 billion, which came in below the estimate of $4.77 billion.

Related Link: Charles Schwab: Q4 Earnings Insights

Why It Matters: "When you look at virtually any aspect of the quarter and the year, it was simply outstanding, but we did miss the estimates that analysts made by a couple of cents this quarter," Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger said Tuesday on CNBC's "Closing Bell."

Although Schwab's top- and bottom-line numbers came in below estimates, the company still increased its revenue by 13% year-over-year and expanded net income by 22% when adjusted for costs related to the TD Ameritrade acquisition, Bettinger said.

He also noted. the firm is not seeing any changes in client engagement. "They are managing their money in a manner that has been fairly consistent since the pandemic began," Bettinger said.

The Schwab CEO told CNBC that the company faces "a large array of competent competitors," but he believes it's a good thing, specifically for clients.

"What it does is it keeps all of us on our toes, all of us innovating and all of us making sure that we keep our costs as reasonable as they can be while providing great service but ensuring that we leave as much money as possible in our clients' pockets."

Bettinger seemed pretty confident in Schwab's prospects moving forward. "The greatest threat for us over the coming years is ourselves," he said. 

Schwab plans to continue to focus on innovation and disruption, which the CEO said is largely responsible for the success of the company since its inception.

SCHW Price Action: Schwab has traded as low as $50.77 and as high as $95.62 over a 52-week period.

The stock closed down 3.61% at $92.16 on Tuesday.

Photo: Mike Mozart from Flickr