Wells Fargo Q3 earnings beat estimates

The firm raised its full-year guidance again as it continues to benefit from higher interest rates.

Wells Fargo & Co. beat analysts’ expectations for net interest income in the third quarter and again raised its full-year guidance as the bank continues to benefit from higher interest rates.

The San Francisco-based bank earned $13.1 billion in NII — revenue collected from loan payments minus what depositors are paid — in the three months through September, up 8.3% from a year earlier, according to a statement Friday. That topped the $12.8 billion average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Expenses also rose more than expected, though, totaling $13.1 billion in the quarter. Getting costs under control has been a key tenet of Charlie Scharf’s turnaround plan since he took over as CEO four years ago. The company again lifted its full-year guidance for non-interest expenses, excluding operating losses, to $51.5 billion.

“While the economy has continued to be resilient, we are seeing the impact of the slowing economy with loan balances declining and charge-offs continuing to deteriorate modestly,” Scharf said in the statement. “In addition to making progress on our risk and control work, which is our top priority, we also continued to take steps to advance our business strategy.”

Shares of Wells Fargo climbed 4.2% to $41.40 at 9:36 a.m. in New York. They’re little changed this year, compared with a 23% decline for the KBW Bank Index.

The results offer an early look at how US consumers and businesses are faring in a higher-for-longer interest-rate environment. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are also reporting third-quarter results Friday, with Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley set to follow next week.

Wells Fargo reported a $1.2 billion provision for loan losses, less than analysts expected, which included $333 million in the firm’s allowance for credit losses primarily tied to office loans. Investors have been closely watching the commercial real estate space in recent months.

“The office portfolio in particular in the commercial real estate portfolio is where we’re seeing weakness,” chief financial officer Mike Santomassimo said on a conference call with reporters. “I think we will see some loss pickup in that portfolio over time.”

Wells Fargo is still under a Federal Reserve-imposed asset cap limiting its size to its end-of-2017 level. Period-end assets totaled $1.89 trillion, slightly higher than a year earlier.