How Wells Fargo Crushes Its Competition

By generating more revenue and spending less on expenses, Wells Fargo enjoys wider profit margins than any of its too-big-to-fail competitors.

By John Maxfield – Oct 19, 2015 at 11:42AM EST

Wells Fargo (WFC 2.02%) has outperformed its three main competitors by such a wide margin over the past three decades that one would be excused for concluding it's in a league of its own. While its shares have returned a total of 7,070% since 1986, JPMorgan Chase (JPM 1.54%), Bank of America (BAC 1.97%), and Citigroup (C 0.95%), have returned only 1,110%, 521%, and 395%, respectively, over the same 30-year stretch.

Three things explain how Wells Fargo accomplished this:

It generates more revenue relative to shareholders' equity than JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup.
It spends less of this revenue on expenses than its three too-big-to-fail peers.
As a result, Wells Fargo's profit margin is materially wider than that of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup.

Scroll through the brief slideshow below for a graphical illustration of these potent competitive advantages.