WFC: 1 down and 3 more to go

One more got resolved and now 3 more to go. Of the 3, one is due to CFPB has no staff to tell Wells’ we are lifting our consent order.. :frowning:

The real order that is pending is “asset cap removal”. This will be unleash significant growth, but the stock may sell on “sell the news”. Prices < $60 is a great buying opportunity.

Just be careful what you wish for!!!

Q1 results are solid, in spite of NII miss and the management had lower the NII to lower range, still that assumes NII will ramp up in second half. But this will hang over stock price until they can show growth in NII.

They bought back 44.5 million shares and reduced share count by 7% ( or over 240 million) from 1Q 24. Given current CET1 is 11.1 vs 9.8% and CET1 may further come down, WFC has plenty of capital buffer to continue buybacks. Of course they are investing in the business, getting ready for potential asset cap lifting. The balance sheet is strong to support buybacks and growth. However, I expect they will return all of their income via dividends and share buyback, but will not use the excess capital for buyback, instead keep them for growth capital. So buybacks will slow down to 200 m this year and possibly to 150 m in 2026.

The business is getting strong, the balance sheet is strong, they company is investing and getting ready for growth… but until asset cap is removed WFC is treading water.