The unofficial kickoff to the 19Q3 earnings season initiates Oct. 15, when the S&P 500 banks industry’s Citigroup Inc (C.N), First Republic Bank (FRC.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) deliver quarterly results. Analysts have been increasingly bearish on banks heading into 19Q3 earnings season, and currently expect the S&P 500 banks industry to see 19Q3 YoY earnings decline 1.2%, net interest income to increase 0.6%, and net interest margin to contract 9.9 bps to 2.67%.  

In the face of geo-political tensions, market volatility, and high expectations for earnings investors have been on the edge of their seats awaiting corporate earnings. The highly anticipated earnings season for the first quarter of 2018 unofficially kicked off Friday, Apr. 13, when four of the large banks reported earnings. The S&P 500 is expected to benefit from global growth and tax reform. As a result, the index is expected post the best first quarter YoY revenue and earnings growth since 2011 Q1. Exhibit 1: S&P 500 YoY Growth Rates Amplified Growth S&P Q1 2018 YoY earnings expectations for the

Activist investors deployed a record $62 billion campaigning for corporate change in 2017, according to Lazard – more than double the amount a year earlier. They’ll still be at it this year, and among possible targets could be Wells Fargo and Under Armour, according to two informal Breakingviews polls on Tuesday. In a webcast with over 1,000 participants and later during an on-stage interview with Trian Management founder Nelson Peltz – whose proxy fight with Procter & Gamble was one of the most high-profile campaigns of 2017 – audience members were asked which companies were most likely to attract activist

The unofficial kickoff to the Q1 2017 earnings season is set for Apr. 13, 2017, when several of the Financials sector’s banks are expected to report results for the quarter. Heading into the quarter, year over year (Y/Y) growth is expected to be strong for both earnings and revenue. As a result, the S&P 500 will likely post the highest growth in over 5 years.   Exhibit 1. S&P 500 Banks Industry 17Q1 Key Performance Indicators Sources: I/B/E/S data, Eikon Banks in Focus With the S&P 500 Banks Industry Index (.52P40101010) down 1.69% YTD, as of the Apr. 12 close, focus

Wells Fargo beats Yahoo hands down in the crisis clawback stakes. Both West Coast companies on Wednesday announced that they are docking executives’ pay for failing to deal with long-term scandals. The $305 billion bank, though, has come up with an altogether more apt response to its multi-year mess than the $44 billion search firm. Yahoo is still dealing with the fallout of a 2014 security breach that hit at least 500 million user accounts, and an earlier incident that compromised a billion accounts. Shareholders are already out $350 million, the amount by which it agreed to trim the sale