Citigroup’s Adjusted Earnings Top Expectations. But the Stock Is Falling.

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Citigroup stock was falling Friday even after the bank’s fourth-quarter earnings topped Wall Street expectations.

Citigroup (ticker: C) reported earnings of $1.46 a share on revenue of $17 billion. Adjusted earnings were $1.99 a share.

Analysts expected $1.71 in adjusted earnings per share on $16.85 billion revenue.

Revenue from fixed income and equity markets trading in the latest quarter was $2.5 billion and $785 million, respectively. Both were below analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion and $866.7 million.

Shares fell 3.8% to $65.21 in premarket trading Friday.

Jane Fraser, Citigroup CEO, said in a statement that the bank had a “decent end to 2021 driving net income for the year up to $22 billion in what was a far better credit environment than the previous year.”

Investors will be waiting to learn more about Citigroup’s plan to exit retail banking in 13 markets across Asia and Europe as part of a strategic refresh during the bank’s earnings call.

The bank announced that Singapore’s United Overseas Bank is buying its consumer-banking businesses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Earlier this week, Citigroup announced its intention to exit its Mexico consumer, small business, and middle-market banking operations. A detailed road map, however, might not come until its March investor day.

Citigroup’s stock has fallen 2.1% over the last four quarters but has been on a tear this year with prices up 12.24% to date. One factor is the coming rise in interest rates, which boosted the stocks of most large-cap banks.

Bank of America

(BAC) and

JPMorgan Chase

(JPM) are up 6.24% and 9.6%, respectively, while the

KBW Nasdaq Bank Index
(BKX) has gained 12% this year.

Citigroup isn’t the only bank that reported earnings on Friday.

JPMorgan Chase

(JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC) both reported earnings that beat expectations.

Goldman Sachs

(GS) reports next Tuesday.

Investors got a preview Wednesday when Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) posted a mixed-bag of earnings, with fixed-income trading levels but the investment banking division delivering record revenues. The stock tumbled 9.2%.

Write to Karishma Vanjani at [email protected]