Big US banks expected to post uptick in core Q4 revenues on economic rebound

Big US banks expected to post uptick in core Q4 revenues on economic rebound

Analysts expect big US banks to show an uptick in fourth quarter core revenues thanks to new lending and firming Treasury yields even while headline earnings will be mixed on differences in how each institution accounted for pandemic loan losses. On Friday, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are expected to post roughly 20 percent and 30 percent declines, respectively, in profits compared with the year-earlier quarter, while Bank of America Corp’s profits will be up 20 percent when it reports on Jan. 19, according to analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv as of Friday. Wells Fargo & Co, which also reports on Friday, is expected to show a 67 percent jump in profits. That mixed performance will be largely due to the different pace at which banks started reversing accounting charges for pandemic-related loan losses which have not materialized. Other complicating factors are restructuring costs and asset sales at Citigroup and Wells Fargo. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, are expected to report fourth-quarter profit declines of about 7 percent and 2 percent, respectively, as revenue from fixed-income trading income dipped from exceptional levels. Broadly speaking, however, the picture is likely to be positive and analysts anticipate