Start here if you're new
what it is
Wells Fargo takes deposits, makes loans, moves money, and sells wealth and investment services to millions of people and businesses.
how it gets paid
Last year Wells Fargo made $87.3B in revenue. consumer banking and lending was the main engine at $36.2B, or 42% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 3.8% last year. The number that mattered was $1.62, because a bank trading above its near-term target does not get much grace for an earnings miss.
what just happened
Wells Fargo earned $1.62 in the latest quarter, missing the $1.66 estimate by 2.4%.
At a glance
A balance sheet — strong enough to weather a downturn
35/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
15.1x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
2.3% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
xvary composite: 64/100 — average
What they do
Wells Fargo takes deposits, makes loans, moves money, and sells wealth and investment services to millions of people and businesses.
Wells Fargo still wins the old-fashioned way: it is everywhere. You pass 8,300 locations and 13,000 ATMs before you finish complaining about banks. That scale keeps customer money sticky and supports a 14% return on equity (return on equity → profit on shareholder cash → this bank still earns real money from its footprint).
How they make money
$87.3B
annual revenue · their business grew -3.8% last year
consumer banking and lending
$36.2B
0.0%
corporate and investment banking
$19.3B
+4.0%
wealth and investment management
$15.0B
+7.4%
commercial banking
$13.8B
3.0%
corporate and other
$3.0B
3.8%
The products that matter
core lending and deposit services
Consumer & Commercial Banking
$87.3B revenue base
it sits underneath the whole $87.3B revenue machine. the problem is growth: total revenue fell 3.8% last year, so scale alone is not doing the work.
core franchise
earning spread on loans and securities
Net Interest Income
$47.5B · flat
this is still the center of gravity. $47.5B of net interest income means Wells Fargo is still a spread business first, even if that spread stopped expanding.
bank math
fees, advisory, and card revenue
Noninterest Income
$36.2B · +4.6%
this $36.2B line grew 4.6% from a year ago, helped by advisory fees, card fees, and investment banking. that's where the earnings support showed up.
earnings support
Key numbers
$86
18-month target
Your stock trades at $94.61, so the published 18-month target sits $8.61 lower. That is the whole argument in one number.
14%
return on equity
Return on equity (profit divided by shareholder money → how hard the bank makes your capital work → 14% is solid for a giant bank) shows the franchise still earns well.
$174.7B
long-term debt
That is 37% of capital, which tells you leverage is still part of the business model. Banks sell safety and borrow for a living.
2.3%
dividend yield
You get paid to wait, but 2.3% is not enough to hide a 9.1% move down to the $86 target.
Financial health
A
strength
- balance sheet grade A — very strong financial position
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 65 / 100
- long-term debt $174.7B (37% of capital)
- return on equity 14% — $0.14 profit for every $1 investors have put in
A — among the top-rated companies for balance sheet quality.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in WFC 3 years ago → it's now worth $21,480.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
Wells Fargo earned $1.62 in the latest quarter, missing the $1.66 estimate by 2.4%.
The quarter was not a disaster. Full-year EPS still rose to $6.26 from $5.37, and noninterest income increased 4.6% to $36.2 billion as advisory, card, and investment banking fees improved.
$1.62
q4 eps
2.4%
vs estimate
$6.26
fy eps
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was $1.62, because a bank trading above its near-term target does not get much grace for an earnings miss.
-
wells fargo posted somewhat mixed results for 2025 as a whole.on the one hand, net interest income was essentially even last year, with the 2024 total, at $47.5 billion.
-
except for the recent fourth quarter, when the size of the loan book spiked, average loan balances (+1.2% during the first nine months) were flattish for much of 2025.
-
but, on the other, noninterest income advanced 4.6% in the latest year ended, to $36.2 billion.
-
higher investment advisory activity (+7.4%), card fees (+5.7%), and investment banking business (+13.6%) more than offset stagnant results elsewhere.
-
all told, earnings jumped 16.6% for full-year 2025, to $6.26 per share, thanks to effective cost controls and generally favorable credit quality.
source: company earnings report, 2025
Get this snapshot in your inbox
This page, delivered free — plus weekly updates when the numbers change. plain english, no spam.
weekly updates
earnings alerts
plain english
no spam
What could go wrong
the top threat is ongoing regulatory and legal scrutiny at Wells Fargo.
med
regulatory cleanup keeps absorbing attention
this is the risk everyone already knows, which is exactly why it still matters. Wells Fargo remains a bank where legal and compliance issues can crowd out the operating story.
on an $87.3B revenue base, extra compliance costs or restrictions would pressure profitability first and growth second.
med
flat spread income is doing less of the work
net interest income was flat at $47.5B. for a big bank, that means the core engine is stable but not accelerating.
if fee income cools before spread income improves, the 16.6% EPS growth rate will look more temporary than structural.
med
fee momentum can reverse faster than investors think
noninterest income rose 4.6% to $36.2B, helped by advisory fees, card fees, and investment banking. those are useful businesses. they are also less dependable than a steadily growing loan book.
if that $36.2B fee line stalls, the market loses the clean explanation for why EPS kept rising while revenue slipped.
med
the stock already sits above the midpoint target
shares trade at $94.61 while the 3–5 year midpoint target shown here is $86. that does not make the stock broken. it does mean some improvement is already in the price.
when a bank trades above target with a 35/100 predictability score, you need continued execution. you do not get much room for a sloppy quarter.
between $47.5B of net interest income, $36.2B of fee income, and a stock already above the $86 midpoint target, the setup is less about survival and more about whether improvement keeps compounding.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
risk
regulatory headlines that change the operating story
the core risk is still regulatory and legal scrutiny. if that worsens, the earnings story takes a back seat fast.
metric
whether net interest income moves off flat
$47.5B of net interest income held steady. for a bank this size, you want to see this line doing more than standing still.
trend
if loan balance improvement becomes a pattern
average loan balances improved in the fourth quarter. one quarter is a data point. two or three starts becoming a story.
calendar
next fee-income check-in
noninterest income reached $36.2B after a 4.6% increase. the next report tells you whether advisory, card, and investment banking momentum was durable or just timely.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
the midpoint target is $86 versus a $94.61 stock price. in human-speak, analysts think the easy upside is already gone.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 means this sits around the middle of the pack. safer than a fragile regional bank, less predictable than the cleanest financial franchises.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3 says the chart is not screaming anything dramatic. welcome to a stock the market mostly understands.
earnings predictability
35 / 100
35/100 predictability means you should expect a few awkward quarters. this is not the kind of bank where every print lands exactly where the street hoped.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 1,241 buyers vs. 1,063 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 2.4B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$55
$117
$95
current price
$86
target midpoint · 9% from current · 3-5yr high: $135 (+45% · 11% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
see plans from $5/moThe deep dive