Wells Fargo profit jumps to $4.74 billion in first quarter

Wells Fargo & Co. says first-quarter net income jumped to $4.74 billion from $653 million a year earlier, when the pandemic struck the global economy.

The San Francisco-based bank said toay that it had earnings of $1.05 per share in the latest quarter, compared with a profit of 1 cent per share a year earlier.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 69 cents per share.

The biggest U.S. mortgage lender posted revenue of $19.3 billion in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $18.06 billion, also surpassing Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected revenue of $17.62 billion. Year-ago revenue net of interest expense was $17.7 billion.

Wells Fargo shares have climbed 32% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P’s 500 index has increased 10%. The stock has increased 27% in the past 12 months.