Major financial institutions reported their fourth-quarter earnings yesterday, revealing a mixed picture for investors. Wells Fargo's stock fell 5% on Wednesday, while Bank of America's and JPMorgan's shares declined 4%.
Bank of America posted record fourth-quarter income in its wealth management unit, a bright spot in the results. The unit recorded net income of $1.4 billion, a 20% increase year over year. It reported more than $2.2 trillion in assets under management balances, up 16% for the quarter. The wealth unit added some 21,300 net new client relationships last year, and its total revenue topped $6.6 billion due to increased asset-management fees.
Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said on an earnings call, "We are ... focusing on serving our bank and wealth management customers, which will help improve profitability." Part of the problem for Wells Fargo was a miss on net interest income. Scharf noted this shortfall was due, in part, to a $1.95 trillion asset cap the Federal Reserve imposed in 2018 but removed in June of last year. The fourth quarter of 2025 was the first full quarter the bank operated without the cap. "The removal of the asset cap by the Federal Reserve was a pivotal moment for the company," he said.
JPMorgan's asset and wealth management unit performed strongly, with assets under management climbing 18% year over year and revenue topping $6.5 billion. However, lower-than-expected investment banking fees were reported. Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum said on the company's earnings call, "IB fees were down 5% year-on-year, reflecting a strong prior year... and the timing of some deals that were pushed to 2026."
Wealthfront also released its first earnings report this week, showing some slowing in asset flows last month, which led its stock to tumble 14%. Still, its net income for the quarter was $30.9 million, up 3% year over year.