Citigroup (C) Stock Rises After Best Revenue Quarter in a Decade

TLDR

• Citigroup Q1 EPS came in at $3.06, beating the $2.63 analyst estimate by a wide margin
• Q1 revenue hit $24.6B — the best quarterly revenue in a decade — up from $21.7B a year ago
• Markets division surged, with fixed income up 13% and equities jumping 39% year-over-year
• Profit rose 42% year-over-year to $5.8B; ROTCE hit 13.1%, above the 10-11% target
• CEO Jane Fraser reaffirmed 2026 guidance and said 90% of transformation programs are at or near target state

Citigroup posted a strong first quarter Tuesday, beating Wall Street on both earnings and revenue, with its markets division doing most of the heavy lifting.

EPS came in at $3.06, well above the $2.63 consensus. That’s a 56% jump year-over-year and a big step up from $1.96 in Q1 2025.

Revenue reached $24.6B, topping the $23.6B estimate and marking the bank’s best quarterly revenue in a decade. A year ago, the number was $21.7B.

Citigroup Inc., C

Profit rose 42% from a year ago to $5.8B. Return on tangible common equity came in at 13.1% — the highest since 2021 and above the firm’s own 10-11% ROTCE target.

The stock rose around 1.5% in premarket trading Tuesday. Through Monday’s close, Citi is up 6.4% year-to-date, making it the best-performing large bank stock so far this year. The S&P 500 is up just 0.4% over the same period.

Markets Division Led the Way

The markets unit was the standout performer. Total markets revenue hit $7.25B, up 57% quarter-over-quarter and 19% year-over-year.

Fixed income revenue rose 13% to $5.2B, beating the StreetAccount estimate of $4.68B. Equities jumped 39% to $2.1B, beating estimates by around $500 million.

Services revenue came in at $6.1B, up 17% year-over-year and above the $5.8B Wall Street expectation.

Wealth revenue grew 7% quarter-over-quarter and 11% year-over-year to $3.06B, driven by Citigold and the Private Bank.

U.S. Consumer Cards brought in $4.76B, up 4% both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year.

Investment banking was a softer spot. Total banking revenue was $1.72B, down 5% from Q4, though up 13% year-over-year. Equity underwriting at $208M did beat estimates of $186.3M.

Credit Losses and Expenses Ticked Up

Provision for credit losses rose to $2.81B, above the $2.64B estimate. That included net credit losses in consumer cards and a $579M allowance build.

Total operating expenses came in at $14.3B, up 7% from the prior quarter, driven by severance costs and foreign exchange translation.

Net interest income was $15.7B, beating the $14.0B consensus and up 12% year-over-year.

End-of-period loans grew to $762B from $752B at the end of Q4. Deposits rose to $1.45T from $1.40T.

CEO Jane Fraser said the bank repurchased $6.3B in stock during the quarter and reaffirmed the full-year 2026 NII guidance of 5-6% growth from 2025’s $49.8B base, with an efficiency ratio target of around 60%.

Fraser also said the bank has entered the final phase of its divestitures and expects to complete its regulatory consent orders this year.

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