Bullish option flow was detected in WFC stock on January 16, 2022.

Bullish Option Flow

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Wells Fargo Reports Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Results

On January 14, 2022, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) has released its fourth-quarter 2021 financial results.

Wells Fargo reported Q4 EPS of $1.38 versus the consensus estimate of $1.12. The company reported Q4 revenueThe income statement provides a summary of a company's revenue and expenses over a specified period of time, typically a year or a quarter. It shows the company's total revenue, th... of $20.86B versus the consensus estimate of $18.78B.

Wells Fargo expects loan and mortgage originations to decline in 2022.

CEO Charlie Scharf commented, “As I look back on my slightly more than two years at Wells Fargo, I’m incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished as we remake this incredible franchise. We have made sweeping changes to the leadership and culture, made significant progress on our risk, regulatory, and control work, improved the efficiency of the company while investing in our business in a more holistic and aggressive way, and have taken a different approach to our customer- and community-facing responsibilities as a large public company… In 2021, we improved our financial returns, including reducing our expenses and returning a significant amount of excess capital to our shareholders by increasing our dividend and repurchasing $14.5 billion of common stock. We also had strong deposit growth and while loan demand was weak early in the year, loans grew 5% in the second half with growth in both our consumer and commercial portfolios. As the economy continued to recover we saw increased consumer spending, higher investment banking fees, higher asset-based fees in our Wealth and Investment Management business, and strong equity gains in our affiliated venture capital and private equity businesses. We continued to manage credit well and the strong economic environment helped reduce charge-offs to historical lows and our results benefitted from reductions in our allowance for credit losses,” Scharf added. “The changes we’ve made to the company and continued strong economic growth prospects make us feel good about how we are positioned entering 2022. But we also remain cognizant that we still have a multiyear effort to satisfy our regulatory requirements – with setbacks likely to continue along the way – and we continue our work to put exposures related to our historical practices behind us,” Scharf continued.

Wells Fargo upgraded to Overweight with $64 target at Piper Sandler

On January 12, 2022, Piper Sandler analyst R. Scott Siefers upgraded Wells Fargo to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $64, up from $50. The analyst believes Wells has an “inflecting” net interest income stream with good positioning for interest higher rates. Further, the bank has a multi-year expense opportunity, “plenty of capital flexibility,” and it is “among the most heavily discounted names in a group that has moved swiftly upward,” Siefers tells investors in a research note.

📺 Wells Fargo named Top 2022 Pick at Morgan Stanley

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📈 WFC Stock Technical Analysis

Both the short-term and long-term trends are positive. This is a very positive sign. WFC is one of the better-performing stocks in the Banks industry, it outperforms 93% of 316 stocks in the same industry. WFC is currently making a new 52 week high. This is a strong signal. The S&P500 Index is trading in the upper part of its 52-week range, but not near new highs, so WFC is leading the market. Volume is considerably higher in the last couple of days, which is what you like to see during a strong move-up.

There is a support zone ranging from 49.39 to 51.34. This zone is formed by a combination of multiple trend lines and important moving averages in multiple time frames. There is support at 48.35 from a trend line in the weekly time frame. Finally, there is a support zone ranging from 46.93 to 47.21. This zone is formed by a combination of multiple trend lines in the daily time frame.

Although WFC has an excellent technical rating, it does not offer a high-quality setup at the moment. Prices have been extended to the upside lately. For a nice entry it is better to wait for a consolidation. Click here to sign up for email alerts on when WFC stock consolidates and is a good entry.