The company earned $12.2 billion in NII in the first three months of the year, according to a statement Friday, down 8% from a year earlier and slightly less than the $12.3 billion analysts expected. Still, overall revenue topped estimates, aided by an increase in investment advisory fees and brokerage commissions.
"The investments we are making across the franchise contributed to higher revenue versus the fourth quarter as an increase in noninterest income more than offset an expected decline in net interest income," Chief Executive Charlie Scharf said in the statement.
Big banks' first-quarter results offer the latest window into how the U.S. economy is faring amid an interest rate trajectory muddied by persistent inflation. Rivals JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup also report quarterly results Friday, with Goldman Sachs Group, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley set to follow next week.
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The San Francisco-based bank reported $1.1 billion in net charge-offs, including $187 million tied to commercial real estate. Chief Financial Officer Mike Santomassimo said in February that the firm's commercial-property portfolio "looks pretty good in most cases," but warned that issues in the space will take time to play out.
Expenses, a key component of Scharf's planned turnaround of the lender, came in at $14.3 billion, worse than analysts expected. That included a $284 million charge for an additional Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. special assessment stemming from last year's regional-bank failures.
