Wells Fargo reported results Wednesday that showed progress from the second quarter.
Photo:
Kevin Hagen for The Wall Street Journal
Wells Fargo & Co. said Wednesday that its third-quarter profit fell 56%.
The San Francisco-based lender said it made $2.04 billion in the third quarter, down from a profit of $4.61 billion a year earlier. Per-share earnings were 42 cents. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected 44 cents.
Still, the results were an improvement from the second quarter, when the bank lost $2.38 billion as it set aside money for potential bad loans.
The pandemic has curtailed earnings across the banking sector this year by forcing lenders to set aside tens of billions of dollars to prepare for loan defaults. Now, with massive stockpiles in place, banks believe they have enough stashed away to let them press pause. Profit rose at
JPMorgan Chase