Wall Street Lunch: Big Banks Open Earnigs Season With Mixed Results

Wall Street Breakfast5.74M FollowersSubscribe5ShareSaveCommentsSummaryJPMorgan Chase (JPM) beat Q1 estimates but trimmed its 2026 net interest income guidance, signaling caution despite broad business growth.Citigroup (C) reaffirmed its 2026 NII outlook and posted Q1 beats, driven by strong Markets and Wealth performance.Wells Fargo (WFC) missed on NII and revenue, with stabilization of net interest margins yet to materialize in a higher-for-longer rate environment.Meta (META) is projected to surpass Google in global digital ad revenue by 2026, while power infrastructure remains a highlighted secular growth theme. winhorse/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Listen below or on the go on Apple Podcasts and Spotify Earnings season begins with mixed bank results and outlook divergence. (0:15) Producer prices rise less than expected. (1:05) Meta projected to surpass Google in global digital ad revenue. (2:02) This is an abridged transcript of the podcast: Our top story so far, earnings season kicked off in earnest with mixed results from the big banks. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) trimmed its 2026 firmwide net interest income guidance, though Q1 earnings and revenue topped estimates, helped by broad business growth and a lower provision for credit losses. Citigroup (C), by contrast, reaffirmed its 2026 NII outlook and also posted Q1 earnings and revenue beats, driven by strength in Markets and Wealth. Wells Fargo (WFC) missed expectations on both NII and revenue. One analyst said a higher-for-longer rate environment should eventually stabilize net interest margins, but that improvement has yet to show up in the numbers and could weigh on the stock. Outside the banks, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) raised full-year guidance after better-than-expected Q1 results, supported by cancer drug sales, though revenue from its Crohn’s therapy continued to decline. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.34/share from $1.30. On the economic front, wholesale inflation in March came in softer than expected, potentially reflecting that the producer price index reference date was March 10 — before the sharp rise in energy prices. The PPI rose 0.5% M/M, below the 1.2% consensus and matching February’s 0.5% gain. Annual inflation climbed to 4% from 3.4%, still under the 4.7% forecast. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.1% M/M versus 0.5% expected and 0.3% prior. Annual core PPI rose to 3.8, below the 4.2% consensus. Pantheon Macro noted that PPI trade services prices — the margin between distributor acquisition costs and customer prices — fell 0.3% in March. However, the firm said those levels remain broadly in line with the 2024 uptrend and far above pre-Covid norms, reinforcing the view that retailers may have largely passed tariff costs on to consumers. In other news of note, Meta (META) is on pace to surpass Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) in total digital ad revenue by year-end, according to Emarketer. The Facebook parent is projected to generate $243.46B in net global ad revenue in 2026, up from $196.17B in 2025. Google’s ad revenue is expected to reach $239.54B in 2026, compared with $214.06B last year. Meta’s share of global digital ad spend is forecast to rise to 26.8% in 2026, edging past Google’s projected 26.4%. And in the Wall Street Research Corner, Goldman Sachs’ equity team says companies tied to investment in power infrastructure remain an attractive secular growth theme.

Strategist David Kostin noted that future global investment in power infrastructure — potentially accelerated by conflict in the Middle East — could provide another tailwind. Unlike many other secular growth names, the group has sharply outperformed YTD. Goldman highlights Caterpillar (CAT), Duke Energy (DUK), Cummins (CMI), Dominion Energy (D) and Array Technologies (ARRY). See the whole list here.This article was written byWall Street Breakfast5.74M FollowersSubscribeWall Street Breakfast, Seeking Alpha's flagship daily business newsletter, is a one-page summary that gives you a rapid overview of the day's key financial news. It is designed for easy readability on the site or by email (including mobile devices) and is published before 7:30 AM ET every market day.

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