Name: Mixed quarter as big banks begin earnings season
Uploaded: 2026-01-14T17:25:07.514Z
Duration: 3 min 17 s
Description: Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup began the latest earnings season with mixed fourth-quarter results, as their financials came under pressure and failed to meet investor expectations.

Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup began the latest earnings season with mixed fourth-quarter results, as their financials came under pressure and failed to meet investor expectations.

Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup began the latest earnings season with mixed fourth-quarter results, as their financials came under pressure and failed to meet investor expectations. All three banks reported sales misses and lower-than-expected net interest income, leading to scrutiny over their efficiency and growth strategies.

Wells Fargo highlighted significant headcount reductions and reinvestment for growth, while Bank of America and Citigroup faced questions about meeting return targets. Both Citi and Wells Fargo are adjusting staff levels as regulatory needs change, and executives addressed the potential impact of AI on future efficiency, though no direct job reductions from AI have been confirmed.

Mixed quarter as big banks begin earnings season

We'll start with the new numbers from the banks. As Carl mentioned, the financials mostly under pressure. Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citi, all reporting this morning. Leslie Picker with the read-through. Leslie. Yeah, you can see that sentiment shift this morning. The read-through is that the fourth quarter numbers and guidance were fine, but really failed to impress. And given the recent run-up in many of these names, investors just needed more. The three firms that reported this morning, you mentioned Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citi Group, the biggest laggards among the group today. Sales missed on the top line and net interest income, the profitability metric for loan making. That call is currently ongoing. Analysts asking Chair and CEO Charlie Scharf how the company plans to grow the business now that the Fed's asset cap has been lifted while continuing to improve its efficiency. Our expenses have come down. And so if you look at what that difference in all that is, that is a significant amount of money that we've been able to use to reinvest, to position ourselves for growth. And that's very much of the way that we continue to think about what we want to accomplish here, which is we think we have more tools on a going forward basis to get more efficient. Now the focus of BofA's call also on efficiency. At Investor Day a few months ago, BofA said it expects return on tangible common equity to be between 16 and 18 percent. That figure stood around 14 percent in the fourth quarter. So investors just really trying to parse through how the firm plans to get closer to its targets. Citigroup's analysts call starting right about now that firm's ROTCE was dragged down by the sale of its remaining Russian operations in the fourth quarter. But CEO Jane Fraser reiterating that Citi would reach its target of 10 to 11 percent and saying in the release that they were, quote, positioning Citi for improved returns above that level in the years ahead. They have an Investor Day in May, so some analysts speculating maybe they could bump it at that point in time. But we'll see. Guys. Meantime, Leslie, on the Wells Fargo front, Sharf's making some comments about M&A, certainly the reduction in headcount since 2020, which is pretty notable. Yeah. Twenty thousand is the number of headcount reduction that they were expecting over the course of this transformation period. There were reports which we have confirmed that a thousand cuts came this week toward the beginning of the month, obviously around earnings season, around bonus season as well. It's all part of their transformation. Of course, another thing that, you know, Citi and Wells Fargo are kind of contending with is they're transforming their businesses. They've had a lot of people hired to kind of work with regulators as they work through various consent orders and other needs from the regulator. So as they kind of work through those, they may need less people to kind of interface with regulators on that specific front. There's also the question around A.I. and what that means for headcount. A lot of questions on the calls surrounding these specific efficiencies that these executives expect to get from all of that A.I. investment. So far, no one's really been coming out forward and saying, yes, A.I. has contributed to a, you know, resulting thousand person reduction in headcount necessities at this point in time. But it's definitely been a big topic of conversation. Right. And we'll check in with Santa Messino later on the hour. Yeah. Thank you so much, Leslie. Thanks.

At least 30 people were killed when a construction crane collapsed onto a moving train in northeastern Thailand, at the site of a planned high-speed rail project intended to eventually link China with much of Southeast Asia.

Sikhio District

At least 30 people killed in Thailand train derailment

Tehran has warned neighbors hosting U.S. troops that it would hit American bases if Washington strikes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, as Iran seeks to deter Donald Trump's threats to intervene on behalf of protesters.

Tehran

Iran warns neighbors it could hit U.S. bases if Washington strikes

As Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to China to ease trade tensions, President Donald Trump reiterated that the U.S. doesn’t need Canadian goods or the CUSMA. Carney was also urged by Ontario’s premier to not back down on tariffs for Chinese EVs.

Ottawa

Trump says he doesn’t need Canadian goods or the CUSMA

United States President Donald Trump says he has cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials and has told protesters to “take over your institutions” amid Tehran’s crackdown.

Trump cancels Iran meetings, urges protesters to take on institutions

Around 2,000 people including security personnel have been killed in protests in Iran, an Iranian official said, the first time authorities have acknowledged the high death toll from an intense crackdown on two weeks of nationwide unrest.

Iran official says 2,000 killed in nationwide unrest

Former President Bill Clinton is refusing to appear before the House Oversight Committee to testify as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion has more.

Washington

Bill Clinton skips Epstein deposition on Capitol Hill

Former Corsican nationalist leader Alain Orsoni, who also served as the president of soccer club AC Ajaccio, was shot dead in Corsica on January 11 during his mother’s funeral. He was 71. Alain Orsoni was one of the leaders of the Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) in the 1980s. He later founded and led the Movement for Self-Determination (MPA).

Vero

Ex-Corsican nationalist leader Alain Orsoni killed at mother's funeral

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who needs to have a graft conviction overturned to seize her best chance at the French presidency, risks seeing her life's work upended if she loses her appeal. It comes after a French court last year barred her from running for office for five years over a European Parliament fake-jobs scam involving her and other officials from her National Rally party.

Paris

Marine Le Pen's appeal in EU fund embezzlement case opens in Paris

British regulators are investigating X for lewd AI images generated by Grok, the AI arm of Elon Musk's social platform. Michael Goodyear, an associate professor at New York Law School, joins CBS News with more.

London

UK investigating Musk's X over Grok's AI-generated images

As U.S. President Donald Trump weighs a response to Iran's deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, Iranian leaders say they are still keeping communications open with the Americans. But on January 12, large pro-government rallies took place across Iran, and the U.S. was clearly framed as the enemy and instigator of the protests.

Iranian leaders mobilise supporters as U.S. weighs intervention

Last week an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent shot and killed Renee Good, a Minneapolis mother who was observing a law enforcement action carried out by the agency.

Minnesota

Minnesota sues federal government to prevent further ICE deployment

The demonstrations are the biggest Iran has seen in years. Protests spurred by the Iranian currency collapse have morphed into a larger test of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's rule.

Trump weighs military action against Iran over protest crackdown

President Claudia Sheinbaum has sought to safeguard Mexican sovereignty while cooperating with the US on key issues.

Mexico City

Mexico’s Sheinbaum rejects Trump’s threat of strikes on drug cartels

President Donald Trump said that any country which does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on trade with the U.S., as Washington weighs a response to the situation in Iran which is seeing its biggest anti-government protests in years.

Trump says nations trading with Iran will face 25% U.S. tariffs

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country is ready for war but also for dialogue, after US President Donald Trump said the US is considering ‘very strong options’ in response to Iran’s crackdown on antigovernment protests.

Iran FM Araghchi warns ready for war if U.S. wants to ‘test’ it

Britain will bring into effect a law criminalizing the creation of non-consensual intimate images this week, technology minister Liz Kendall told parliament after regulator Ofcom launched an investigation into Elon Musk's X.

UK investigates Musk's X over Grok sexual deepfakes

Iran's internet was cut off late last Thursday, apparently in an attempt by government authorities to prevent protesters from organizing and uploading videos for the outside world to see.

Iran enforcing nationwide internet blackout amid protests

Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI, amid concerns that it is being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images.

Malaysia and Indonesia block Musk’s Grok over sexualized AI images

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is on a two-day visit. Merz is traveling with a large business delegation as Germany seeks to deepen economic and security ties.

New Delhi

Germany's Merz makes first official visit to India

At the first major awards show of the season, "One Battle After Another" and "Adolescence" both won four awards. In a surprise win, "Hamnet" upset "Sinners" for best motion picture for a drama.

Los Angeles

"One Battle After Another," "Adolescence" win big at Golden Globes

Fallout from the fatal shooting of Renee Good by a U.S. immigration and customs enforcement officer in Minneapolis continues with government officials standing by the action and ordering more ICE officers into the city.

Minneapolis

Hundreds more ICE agents headed to Minneapolis after fatal shooting

Powell said the investigation, linked to a testimony he gave to a Senate committee about renovations to Fed buildings, was an attempt to limit central bank independence.

U.S. opens criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell

Protests continue in Iran amid a violent government crackdown. Activists say hundreds of demonstrators have been killed. President Trump says Iran now wants to negotiate to prevent a U.S. military response.

Trump says Iran 'wants to negotiate' as protests intensify

President Trump says Iranian leaders have reached out to the U.S. to negotiate, as massive protests continue and more deaths are reported by activists.

Trump weighs military option in Iran amid rising death toll

President Trump has been briefed on new military options for a strike against Iran amid widespread protests and a government crackdown on communications for Iranians, a senior U.S. official tells CBS News. "We'll be hitting them very hard where it hurts," he said at the White House.

Trump briefed on new military options for Iran strikes amid protests

Demonstrations in Iran are now entering their third week and the death toll is surging with hundreds killed, according to a human rights group. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insisted that the Islamic regime will "not back down" in the face of the growing social unrest and calls for regime change.

Protests in Iran intensifying despite threat of death for dissidents

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas showcased a wide array of AI-powered innovations, including paper-thin televisions, interactive Lego, and binoculars that can identify bird species in real time. Notable breakthroughs included .Lumen's AI glasses for the visually impaired and Roborock's Saros Rover, a robotic vacuum cleaner capable of navigating stairs and various surfaces autonomously.

Las Vegas

Rise of AI

AI-powered innovation dominates Consumer Electronics show

Human remains were found in Australia's southeast where bushfires raging for days have razed buildings, cut power to thousands of homes and burned swaths of bushland, police said. The blazes are burning out of control during a summer heat wave in Victoria state.

Victoria

'Gut-wrenching': Australian bushfires expected to burn for weeks

Anti-government protests in Iran show no sign of stopping. Human rights groups are putting the death toll at 116 with 2600 detained. U.S. President Donald Trump has reaffirmed U.S. support for the protesters.

Protests in Iran defy government crackdown

Iran's army is threatening to join the crackdown on protesters as demonstrations against the regime grow and the death toll mounts. Huge crowds have taken to the streets across the Islamic Republic. Iran's Revolutionary Guard calls them "terrorists." Haley Ott has more details.

Breakdown