: Wells Fargo stock surges after profit and revenue beats, helped by higher rates and loan balances

Shares of Wells Fargo & Co. WFC rallied 3.3% toward a four-month high in premarket trading Friday, after the San Francisco-based bank beat second-quarter profit and revenue expectations, as higher interest rates and loan balances provided a boost to net interest income. Net income rose to $4.94 billion, or $1.25 a share, from $3.14 billion, or 75 cents a share, in the year-ago period. That beat the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of $1.16. Total revenue grew 20.5% to $20.53 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $20.11 billion, as net interest income jumped 29.1% to $13.16 billion to beat expectations of $12.82 billion. Provision for credit losses nearly tripled to $1.71 billion from $580 million. Average loans increased 2.1% to $945.9 million while average deposits fell 6.8% to $1.35 billion. The stock has rallied 10.3% over the past three months through Thursday, while the S&P 500 SPX has gained 9.0%.

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