Citigroup's stock jumps toward an 18-year high after earnings, boosted by record M&A fees

By Tomi Kilgore

The stock's rally after earnings stands out, as shares of Citi's big-bank peers fell after their results were released

Citigroup's stock was rallying, bucking the postearnings weakness seen in shares of its big-bank peers.

Shares of Citigroup rallied in early Tuesday trading, after the banking giant reported a big first-quarter earnings beat, continuing the trend of surging markets and investment-banking revenue.

CEO Jane Fraser said the bank has entered into the "final phase" of its divestitures, which helped support its commitment to shareholder returns, including $6.3 billion in share repurchases.

The stock (C) rose 1.4% in premarket trading, putting it on track to open at the highest price seen since November 2008. That bucked the trend of the other big banks that reported results: shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo shares (WFC) fell ahead of Tuesday's open, and Goldman Sachs Group's stock (GS) dropped on Monday.

Total revenue for the latest quarter grew 14.1% from a year ago to $24.63 billion, well above the average analyst estimate compiled by FactSet of $23.53 billion. That included a 12.3% increase in net-interest income (NII) to $15.74 billion, which was above expectations of $15.51 billion.

For 2026, Citi reiterated its growth outlook for NII, excluding markets, of 5% to 6%.

Within Citi's markets business, total revenue was up 19.3% to $7.25 billion. Included in that was a 39% surge in equity markets revenue to $2.1 billion, due to growth in options trading, prime services and cash equities. Fixed-income markets revenue rose 13% to $5.2 billion.

Banking revenue rose 15.5% to $1.77 billion, including a 19% jump in investment banking revenue to $1.3 billion. Fraser noted that fees in that business were up 12%, amid a record first quarter in mergers and acquisitions.

Elsewhere, services revenue rose 17% to $6.1 billion and wealth revenue grew 11% to $3.07 billion.

Total provision for credit losses edged up to $2.81 billion from $2.72 billion, while the FactSet consensus called for a decline to $2.63 billion.

Net income for the quarter ran up 42.3% to $5.79 billion, while earnings per share of $3.06 was well above the FactSet EPS consensus of $2.58. The margin of the top-line beat was the biggest in two years, according to FactSet data.

The bank's share buybacks over the past year boosted earnings, as the shares outstanding used to calculate EPS fell to 1.71 billion shares in the latest quarter from 1.87 billion shares a year ago.

Citi's stock has rallied 8.2% so far this year through Monday, while the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF XLF has lost 5.7% and the S&P 500 index SPX has tacked on 0.6%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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04-14-26 0903ET