30-Second Overview: Wells Fargo

It's big, Warren Buffett loves it, and it's one of the only banks that isn't getting annihilated by the credit crunch. If you're looking at Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) as an example of bank stocks that could exit the credit crunch stronger than they entered it, you're starting off on the right foot.

Here's a quick overview of Wells Fargo that should help with your analysis.

Metric	Dec. 31, 2007	Dec. 31, 2006	Q1 2008	Q2 2008
Total revenue	$39.39 billion	$35.61 billion	$10.56 billion	$11.46 billion
Total net income	$8.06 billion	$8.42 billion	$2.00 billion	$1.75 billion
Net income per share	$2.38	$2.47	$0.60	$0.53
Return on assets	1.55%	1.73%	1.4%	1.19%
Return on equity	17.12%	19.52%	16.86 %	14.58%
Net interest margin	4.74%	4.83%	4.69%	4.92%
Non-performing assets as a percentage of total loans	1.01%	0.76%	1.16%	1.31%
Tier 1 capital ratio	7.59%	8.93%	7.87%	8.24%
Book value per share	$14.45	$13.57	$14.58	$14.48
Dividends declared	$1.18 per share	$1.08 per share	$0.31	$0.34
Shares outstanding	3.383 billion	3.410 billion	3.317 billion	3.321 billion

What should leap off this page is that Wells Fargo isn't too damaged from where it stood in previous years (yet it’s down 20% from its 52-week high). That's a huge testament to how responsibly management operated during the unprecedented housing run-up. Unlike its peers, such as Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM  ) , Wachovia (NYSE: WB  ) , and Citigroup (NYSE: C  ) , Wells Fargo never got tied up in lending absurd mortgages, or in holding huge amounts of the even more absurd CDO packages those mortgages became.

Whenever this spectacular credit crunch starts to wane, it's entirely possible that Wells will be quite a bit stronger than it was in previous years. Why? Because over the past decade, easy lending practices led to easy money in the bank sector. Now that the market is being purged of the glut, Wells is setting itself up to gain market share while others are busy cleaning up their mess.

What do you think about Wells Fargo? Our CAPS community of more than 110,000 investors gives it three stars out of five (pretty high for a bank stock these days). Of course, we'd love to get your take on it as well. Click here to join CAPS for free and share your thoughts.

For more on Wells Fargo and the turbulent bank market, check out:

• Wells Fargo's dominating quarter.
• Why Warren Buffet loves Wells Fargo.
• A look at what banks are in for dividend cuts.
• How dividend stocks could be the easiest way to double your returns.