Wells Fargo projects record $3 billion 1Q profit?
NEW YORK – Wells Fargo & Co. said Thursday it expects record first-quarter earnings of $3 billion, easily surpassing analysts’ estimates and providing an encouraging sign for the banking industry.
Wells Fargo is the first major bank to give an indication of how the first-quarter looked.
Most of that business was refinance applications, but about 25 percent came from customers looking to purchase homes, Atkins Wells Fargo’s CFO said, noting the recent quarter’s mortgage activity has been among the strongest quarters since the housing market began to collapse in 2007.
The government has been implementing many new programs in an effort to cut interest rates, hoping to bolster the beleaguered housing market, and those programs have definitely helped, Atkins said.
“For sure the reduction in interest rates is having an impact on the wave of activity in the mortgage market,” Atkins said.
Signs of improvement from one of the nation’s largest banks gave investors reason to rally around the banking sector amid hopes that the worst of the credit crisis is ending. The KBW Bank Index, which tracks 24 of the nation’s largest banks, surged 20.1 percent to 33.81. Some of the nation’s hardest hit banks have also rallied, with Citigroup Inc. gaining 34 cents, or 12.6 percent, to $3.04. Shares of Bank of America Corp. rose $2.49, or 35.3 percent, to $9.55.
Are you feeling hopeful, maybe a little bit?