First-quarter numbers for Citigroup (C 0.32%) are in, and given how good they are, investors are understandably happy, driving the superbank's share price up 2.98% already on the day.
Tale of the tickers
But before we dig into the particulars, let's have a quick look at where Citi's peers and the markets are so far:
- Bank of America is up 0.82%.
- Up 0.45%, JPMorgan Chase (JPM +1.78%) has just edged out of the red, where the superbank began the day's trading.
- Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) has finally climbed out of the red, as well, where it began the trading day: It's now up 0.32%.
So far, so bad in the markets, however, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.46%, the S&P 500 down 0.56%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.55%.
Foolish bottom line
There's no mystery as to why Citi is beating the band today; the bank's first-quarter results are impressive, and investor money is flowing in.
First-quarter net income rose 30%, to $3.8 billion, not significantly far off from JPMorgan's Q1 results, which showed an increase in net income of 33%. This puts Citi's earnings per share at $1.23, easily beating estimates.
Perhaps even more significantly for Citi, revenue actually rose in the first quarter: up 3% year over year. In comparison, JPMorgan's revenue dropped 3.8% year over year for Q1. Even Wells had reduced first-quarter revenue, down 1.4% year over year.
A few other Citi bright spots to report:
- Revenue rose 12% from the fourth quarter.
- Net losses at Citi Holdings, the "bad bank" created after the financial crisis to hold the superbank's bad assets, dropped to $794 million, or 21%.
- Operating expenses rose 1% year over year, but dropped 3% from Q4: The more efficient Citi can be in its operations, the more money for the bottom line.
There you have it. Happy numbers make for happy investors, but as a Foolish investor, always remember that you're in this for the long term. Though the share prices of your favorite companies may spike and plummet on a day-to-day, week-to-week, or even month-to-month basis, so long as the fundamentals of the companies you're invested in remain sound, have faith that your money is in the right place.
