This Trend Could Spell Trouble for Bank Stocks
New loans are a bank’s lifeblood, but investors seem to be willing to look through sluggish loan growth this earnings season. That might not stay the case if demand doesn’t pick up soon. Most of the largest banks have reported earnings and, on the surface, it has been a success. On the first day of big bank earnings last week, the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index notched its largest gain since the day after the presidential election. Of the first 17 financials to report, just one failed to beat estimates, according to LSEG IBES. One area of caution has been loan growth , which can only be described as sluggish. According to Morgan Stanley analyst Betsy Graseck, a basket of 25 banks, including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citizens Financial Group, and Regions Financial, have reported a median increase in loan growth of 1.13% from a year ago. While Graseck sees large-cap […]
This Trend Could Spell Trouble for Bank Stocks Read Post »