Citigroup's Growth Streak Continues: Analysts Unpack Q2 Insights

Zinger Key Points
  • Citigroup reports Y/Y growth for the 4th straight quarter, after 7 of 10 negative quarters, one analyst says.
  • The bank reports solid quarterly results, with IB and wealth shining as bright spots, another analyst notes.  

Citigroup Inc C shares recovered slightly in early trading on Monday after tanking on Friday, following the second-quarter results.

The results came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways from the release.

Oppenheimer On Citigroup

Analyst Chris Kotowski maintained an Outperform rating while raising the price target from $85 to $86.

Citi reported earnings of $1.52 per share, surpassing consensus of $1.39 per share, which included a one-time gain of around $400 million related to Visa Inc V, bringing the underlying results very close to expectations, Kotowski said in a note.

This was the fourth straight quarter of year-on-year growth, versus "seven of 10 negative quarters prior to that," he added.

"The key fact about the quarter in our view is that net interest income was essentially flat with the prior quarter and fractionally above our forecast," the analyst wrote. "Overall we see the numbers as confirmation of our thesis that the deposit beta effects have largely run their course but the benefits of assets rolling over and repricing in the higher rate environment are still in their early innings," he further stated.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

Piper Sandler On Citigroup

Analyst Scott Siefers reaffirmed an Overweight rating while lifting the price target from $70 to $73.

Citigroup reported solid quarterly results and "focus areas such as IB and wealth shone as bright spots," Siefers said. Four of the bank's five main businesses generated positive operating leverage, he added.

Banking revenues climbed 38% year-on-year, with IB revenues up 60%, while Wealth revenues grew by 2%, with Wealth expenses down 4%, the analyst stated.

"But the item that overwhelmed this Q's actual results was concern surrounding last week's regulatory actions by the OCC and Fed," he further wrote.

Goldman Sachs On Citigroup

Analyst Richard Ramsden maintained a Buy rating and price target of $72.

Citigroup reported an earnings beat mainly due to lower-than-expected expense and provisions, which were mostly offset by lower core fee revenue, Ramsden said.

Management reiterated their 2024 guidance, the analyst stated. "The recent OCC and Fed's regulatory actions are primarily focused on data quality management, and the firm has increased its investment to remediate the shortcomings, which is included in the unchanged full year 2024 expense target of $53.5-53.8bn," he added.

C Price Action: Shares of Citigroup had risen by 0.90% to $65.11 at the time of publication on Monday.

Read Next:
    • Goldman Sachs Q2 Earnings: Revenue And EPS Beat, Investment Banking Fees Up 21%, Dividend Hike

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Posted In: Analyst ColorEarnings MissesPrice TargetReiterationAnalyst RatingsTrading IdeasbankingBanking StocksbanksChris KotowskiExpert IdeasGoldman SachsOppenheimerPiper SandlerRichard RamsdenScott SiefersStories That Matter
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