U.S. banks report better than expected Q3 results across the board, says RBC

RBC Capital writes that Q3 results reported by Citi (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan (JPM), and Wells Fargo (WFC) were better than expected across the board. After heightened economic uncertainty in the first half of the year, the results proved the resiliency of the banking sector as credit quality trends remained healthy, with loan loss provisions and net charge-offs better than expected in the quarter, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Capital levels were strong for all four banks and are comfortably above the regulatory required levels, suggesting stock buybacks – which were strong in Q3 – will be prominent over the next 12 months, the analyst tells investors in a research note. RBC keeps its Outperform rating on Citi, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo, with a Sector Perform on Goldman Sachs.