Wells Fargo Stock Fell 3% on Tuesday: Q3 Revenue Missed Despite EPS Beat

Wells Fargo stock fell 3.1% in Tuesday trading to close at $80.74 after the bank beat third-quarter profit estimates but missed on revenue. Earnings came to $1.87 a diluted share on net income of $6.0 billion, up 13% from $1.66 a year earlier, according to the October 13 earnings release and the accompanying 8-K filed with the SEC, yet total revenue of $21.87 billion fell short of the roughly $22.3 billion analysts had penciled in.

Wall Street's reaction came down to where the growth was not. Net interest income climbed about 5% to $12.5 billion, helped by loan and securities growth, and management kept its roughly $50 billion full-year net interest income outlook while penciling about $13 billion for the fourth quarter. But the top line still missed, and the shortfall sat in fee income and trading, the businesses that delivered lighter-than-expected capital markets revenue.

Related reading: JNJ Stock Slid 5.7% After Q3 Earnings Beat as MedTech Sales Missed.

"Our third quarter results reflect broad-based growth, higher earnings, and stronger returns," Chief Executive Charlie Scharf said in the October 13 release. "Diluted earnings per share increased to $1.87 in the third quarter, up 13% from a year ago." Scharf added that average loans and average deposits each rose 11% from a year earlier, with commercial banking loans up 10% and corporate and investment banking loans up 19%.

The pattern is the same one that defined the quarter across big banks. JPMorgan missed on securities losses, Bank of America's earnings per share came in short after an anti-money-laundering fine, and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley topped estimates. Wells Fargo joined the mixed picture by beating earnings while missing revenue, a combination some analysts struggled to square with the drop.

Related reading: Morgan Stanley Q3 2026 earnings beat street estimate.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Gerard Cassidy called the results solid, while Jefferies' David Chiaverini described the report as mixed and pointed to soft fee income, per American Banker. Investors appeared to lock in on that fee shortfall. The shares closed down 3.1% even though profit was higher than a year ago, and the stock sits in the lower half of its 52-week range, down double digits for 2026.

Related reading: Q3 Bank Earnings Open Mixed as JPMorgan Misses, Goldman and Citi Beat.

Credit, which investors watched closely through the year, held up. Net charge-offs were $983 million, equal to an annualized 0.38% of average loans versus 0.40% a year earlier, and the provision for credit losses rose to $1.03 billion from $681 million in the prior-year quarter, a step management described as within expectations. The bank also returned capital, repurchasing 28.6 million shares for $2.5 billion during the quarter and raising the dividend to $0.50 per share.

Related reading: Bank of America Q3 2026 Earnings: EPS $1.08 Misses on AML Fine.

For holders, the two numbers that matter next are the fourth-quarter net interest income guide near $13 billion and whether fee income rebounds into January. Keeping 2026 NII near $50 billion means balance-sheet growth keeps funding the dividend and the buyback even if trading revenue stays uneven. Wells Fargo's next scheduled report is Q4 2026 earnings on Jan. 14, 2027.

What is dated next: the size of that fourth-quarter NII number and the January print. If capital markets revenue does not recover, the top-line shortfall that cost WFC 3.1% on Tuesday will keep showing up even as the loan book keeps growing.

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