The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained over 100 points to start Wednesday morning’s session as Goldman Sachs and Bank of America beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter earnings expectations.
Goldman Sachs generated $6.04 per share in profit for the fourth quarter of 2018, versus the $4.45 per share estimate of analysts surveyed by data company Refinitiv. The investment bank also posted revenue of $8.08 billion, beating estimates of $7.55 billion.
Bank of America’s earnings came in at 73 cents per share, beating the 63 cents expected. Revenue was $22.7 billion versus initial estimates of $22.397 billion.
“For Bank of America, they performed well in their traditional banking areas,” said Ken Leon, an analyst at CFRA Research. “We did see better-than-peers deposit and loan growth. There was also healthy growth in consumer banking.”
“Overall, Goldman had a good quarter. We did not see a multibillion dollar reserve for Malaysia, but that’s going to be top of mind,” said Leon, referencing the 1MDB scandal.
Solid Start for Banks
Citigroup, one of the other large banks reporting earnings this week, kicked off calendar fourth-quarter earnings season by reporting stronger-than-expected earnings. Citigroup reported $1.61 in profit per share, besting Wall Street expectations of $1.55 per share.
Wells Fargo & Co. finished 2018 by posting a net income of nearly $6.1 billion, or $1.21 in diluted earnings per share.