Client assets and net income in the wealth management side of the US bank rose in the quarter. Group-wise, net income fell while earnings per diluted share posted a gain.

Yesterday, the wealth and asset management division of Wells Fargo reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $537 million, a 28 per cent year-on-year increase, aided by a 12 per cent rise in total revenue.

Noninterest expenses rose 10 per cent, the California-headquartered banking group said in a statement. 

Client assets rose 15 per cent to $2.691 trillion at the end of the quarter.

Across the whole Wells Fargo group, net income fell to $6.4 billion from $5.49 billion; total revenues rose to $22.622 billion from $20.882 billion; noninterest expenses rose in Q2 from a year before. Earnings per diluted share rose to $2 from $1.6.

The bank had a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a standard international measure of a bank’s capital buffer – of 10.3 per cent at end-June, down from 11.1 per cent. Return on equity rose to 15 per cent from 12.8 per cent.

“We are clearly benefiting from the broad-based economic strength we see in the US, but the investments we are making and our improved operating discipline also drove strong momentum in our key business metrics across all operating segments again this quarter,” Charlie Scharf, CEO and chairman of Wells Fargo, said. “In Wealth and Investment Management, client assets grew 15 per cent from a year ago to over $2.4 trillion.”

Wells Fargo’s share price has languished this year after rising 92.6 per cent in the five years to yesterday. Since January 1, as of yesterday’s close, the stock has fallen 10.4 per cent. 

Scharf was broadly bullish in his comments yesterday. 

“After years of not being on a level playing field with our competitors because we couldn’t grow our balance sheet, we are carefully deploying capital to grow and support our clients by taking risks that we think are prudent through economic cycles, not just the strong environment we see today.

“Our strong capital generation allows us to do this and continue to return capital to our shareholders. During the first half of this year, we repurchased approximately $7 billion of common stock and, as previously announced, we expect to increase our third quarter common stock dividend by 11 per cent to $0.50 per common share, subject to approval by the company’s board of directors at its meeting later this month,” he added.