Citigroup reported fourth-quarter results Wednesday that beat expectations as banks had less money set aside for bad loans than analysts expected.
Here’s what the company reported:
Adjusted earnings: $1.81 per share vs. LSEG expected $1.67 Adjusted earnings: $21 billion vs. $20.72 billion expected
The company announced that its net income decreased 13% year over year to $2.47 billion, or $1.19 per share. This was due to the impact of a $1.1 billion tax loss related to Citigroup’s planned sale of its Russian business.
Earnings excluding costs were $3.6 billion, or $1.81 per share.
Excluding Russia-related costs, sales increased 8% to $21 billion due to higher results in Banking, Assets and Institutional Services.
The bank’s loan loss reserves for the quarter were $2.2 billion, about $330 million below street estimates.
Lower-than-expected loan loss reserves at rivals such as Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. could signal optimism about the economy and the ability of borrowers to repay their debts.
“2025 was a year of significant progress as we achieved record revenues and positive operating leverage in each of our five businesses, proving that the investments we are making are driving strong top-line growth,” Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser said in the earnings call.
“We enter 2026 with visible momentum across the company,” Fraser said.
He added that the company is “fully committed” to achieving its revenue target of at least 10% in 2026, positioning the bank for “profitability improvement beyond that level in the coming years.”
The bank’s shares rose about 1% in premarket trading.
Under Fraser, Citigroup is in the midst of a restructuring to sell off some of its overseas operations, while also benefiting from U.S. banking deregulation. That’s why Wells Fargo banking analyst Mike Mayo calls Citigroup a top choice among bank stocks.
Analysts will be watching to see whether Fraser sees last year’s momentum continuing into 2026.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Tuesday reported better-than-expected results on higher-than-expected trading revenue. Bank of America and Wells Fargo will also report fourth-quarter results on Wednesday, and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are expected to report on Thursday.
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