Jane Fraser, CEO of CitiGroup, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 20, 2026.
Oscar Molina | CNBC
Citi Group beat on the top and bottom lines during the first quarter.
Here’s what the company reported Tuesday, compared to Wall Street estimates compiled by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $3.06 versus estimate of $2.65
- Income: $24.63 billion versus $23.55 billion estimated
The results mark the company’s best quarterly revenue in a decade and a 56% year-over-year increase in earnings per share.
Citigroup’s return on tangible equity, a measure of profitability, came in at 13.1%, the highest since 2021 and above the company’s ROTCE target of 10% to 11%.
CEO Jane Fraser said in a statement that the bank was on track to meet this ROTCE target this year and said of the company’s recent streamlining: “We have entered the final phase of our divestments and 90% of our transformation programs are now at or near our target state.
Citigroup, whose stock has posted the best performance among the major banks to date, has benefited from its recovery efforts and its relatively low valuations. The company has streamlined its operations and worked on several regulatory consent orders, which it expects to finalize this year.
However, given its global presence, Citigroup is also seen as being more affected by the geopolitical environment than many of its peers.
The bank’s markets division was a key driver of its first-quarter success, with its largest fixed-income division gaining 13% to $5.2 billion in revenue, beating StreetAccount’s estimate of $4.68 billion. Shares jumped 39% to $2.1 billion, beating the estimate by about $500 million.
The investment bank performed worse than estimates, with the exception of equity underwriting, which came in at $208 million and beat estimates by $186.3 million, according to StreetAccount. The services unit posted revenue that rose 17% in the quarter to $6.1 billion and beat Wall Street expectations of $5.8 billion.
Citi’s U.S. wealth management and consumer cards divisions were slightly reconfigured during the quarter and did not compare to estimates. However, they each made gains through Citigold and retail banking.
The company’s allowance for credit losses was higher than expected – at $2.81 billion versus $2.64 billion expected, per StreetAccount – due to net credit losses on consumer cards and a provision for credit losses of $579 million.
Expenses increased by 7% due to severance and currency conversion.
— CNBC’s Laya Neelakandan contributed to this report.