Big Banks Off To A Good Start

On Friday, three of the "Big Four" banks — JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Citigroup Inc C and Wells Fargo & Co WFC — and another financial firm, PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC all announced better-than-expected results for the September quarter. This indicates that bank results provided a good start to the third-quarter earnings season.

After Alcoa Inc AA disappointed investors with lower-than-expected sales and downbeat outlook, the financial sector restored the investors' confidence on the third-quarter earnings number.

Related Link: The Big Bank Earnings Season Begins Friday

As a result, sentiments on three other big banks, including the remaining of the Big Four — Bank of America Corp BAC, Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS and Morgan Stanley MS — have improved.

These three banks will reveal their September quarter results next week.

The following companies have reported their third quarter results:

• Citigroup disclosed a profit of $3.8 billion, or $1.24 a share, on revenue of $17.8 billion for the three-month period ending September. Street expected $1.16 EPS on $17.34 billion revenue.
• JPMorgan reported net income of $6.286 billion, or EPS of $1.58, for the third quarter. The company's managed and reported revenue were $25.51 billion and 24.7 billion respectively. Analysts' estimate was $1.39 on revenue of $23.99 billion.
• PNC Financial reported profit of $1.0 billion, or $1.84 a share, on revenue of $3.83 billion. Analysts expected EPS of $1.78 on revenue of $3.83 billion.
• Wells Fargo revealed net earnings of $5.6 billion, or EPS of $1.03, on revenue of $22.33 billion. Analysts predicted EPS of $1.01 and $22.22 billion revenue.

At Last Check ...

• Bank of America was up 1.01 percent at $15.99.
• Citigroup was up 0.06 percent at $48.50.
• Goldman Sachs was up 1.98 percent at $170.74.
• JPMorgan was down 0.1 percent at $67.67.
• Morgan Stanley was up 1.45 percent at $32.19.
• PNC was up 0.14 percent at $88.06.
• Wells Fargo was down 0.45 percent at $44.55.

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