Friday was a particularly good day for Citigroup Inc. and its shareholders. The investment bank presented positive second-quarter results and saw its stock surge 13%. This marked the biggest surge Citigroup had post-earnings in two decades.
“In a challenging macro and geopolitical environment, our team delivered solid results, and we are in a strong position to weather uncertain times, given our liquidity, credit quality, and reserve levels,” said Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser in a press release.
Wall Street analysts expected that Citigroup will have earnings per share of $1.68 and revenue of $18.22 billion. Instead, the bank blew past these numbers, reporting $2.19 EPS and $19.64 billion in revenue. Citigroup’s positive results were greatly aided by a hike in interest rates and strong treasury and trade performance.
Citigroup is the only bank to beat the analysts’ expectations out of four major U.S. banks that reported their Q2 earnings this week. Wells Fargo beat the EPS expectations but missed revenue, while JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley missed completely.
After closing in on $44.10 on Thursday, Citigroup shares surged to $50.46 at one point on Friday before settling at $49.98. This is the most value the stock has had since early June but still down 20% for the year.