Investing in big banks is usually about as exciting as watching paint dry. You buy the shares, collect the dividend, and hope the CEO doesn't end up in front of a Senate subcommittee. But lately, things have been weird. If you’ve been tracking the price of Wells Fargo stock in early 2026, you’ve probably noticed the roller coaster.
It’s currently hovering around $89.46. That’s a decent drop from the $96-plus highs we saw just a couple of weeks ago.
Honestly, the market is acting like a moody teenager. One day it loves the "recovery story," and the next, it’s panicking because revenue missed the mark by a tiny sliver. On January 14, 2026, the bank dropped its Q4 2025 earnings, and the reaction was... well, let’s just say it wasn’t a standing ovation. Even though they beat earnings per share (EPS) estimates—hitting $1.76 against the $1.66 projected—the stock still took a 4-5% punch to the gut.
Why the price of Wells Fargo stock is acting so jumpy
The "miss" that everyone is obsessing over was revenue. Wells Fargo pulled in $21.29 billion for the quarter. Analysts wanted $21.65 billion. In the grand scheme of a multi-trillion dollar bank, that's basically rounding error territory, but Wall Street doesn't do "chill."
The real story isn't just the revenue miss. It’s the guidance.
CEO Charlie Scharf basically told the world that 2026 is going to be a year of "gradual" growth. He projected net interest income (NII) to be around $50 billion. Again, slightly lower than the $50.3 billion the math whizzes at the big brokerage firms expected. When a bank says growth will be slow and steady, investors who were looking for a post-asset-cap explosion tend to head for the exits.
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The phantom of the asset cap
For years, Wells Fargo was the kid in time-out. The Federal Reserve had them under a $1.95 trillion asset cap because of that whole fake-accounts scandal from ages ago. That cap was finally lifted in June 2025.
Now that they can actually grow again, people expected them to just... start printing money? It doesn't work that way.
Since the cap disappeared, assets have grown by about 11%. They’ve pushed past the $2 trillion mark. That’s huge. But they also had to spend $612 million on severance costs recently as they continue to trim the fat and modernize. It’s a messy transition from a "defense" strategy to an "offense" strategy.
The analyst tug-of-war
If you look at the price targets for the price of Wells Fargo stock, it's a bit of a mess. Truist Securities just trimmed their target from $104 down to **$100**. They still have a "Buy" rating, but they’re acknowledging that fee income might be lower than they thought.
Meanwhile, over at Morningstar, Sean Dunlop raised his fair value estimate to $85. Think about that for a second. The stock is trading at $89, but a top analyst thinks it's actually worth $85.
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- Truist Target: $100 (Bullish)
- Morningstar Fair Value: $85 (Cautious)
- Consensus Average: $94.18
It’s a classic divide. The bulls see a bank that is finally free to compete with JPMorgan and Bank of America. The bears see a bank that still has an "efficiency ratio" problem—meaning it costs them more to make a dollar than it costs their rivals.
What about the dividend?
If you're holding WFC for the income, you're probably feeling okay. The current dividend yield is sitting right around 2.0%. They paid out $0.45 per share in the last quarter of 2025.
During 2025, they actually hiked the dividend by 13% and bought back $18 billion of their own stock. That’s a massive amount of cash returned to shareholders. But Scharf did warn that buybacks might be "lower" in 2026 because they want to use that capital to grow the business now that the handcuffs are off.
The "What Most People Get Wrong" Part
Most retail investors think the price of Wells Fargo stock is just a bet on interest rates. It’s not.
Sure, rates matter. If the Fed cuts rates too fast, the "spread" the bank makes on loans shrinks. But the bigger factor here is the internal plumbing. Wells Fargo is trying to become a top-five investment bank. They actually moved from 12th to 8th in U.S. M&A (mergers and acquisitions) rankings last year.
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They are also betting big on credit cards. New accounts were up 21% in 2025. If the consumer stays resilient, these high-interest products will be the real engine for the stock price, not just the boring mortgage business.
Practical steps for your portfolio
If you're looking at the price of Wells Fargo stock and wondering whether to click "buy" or "sell," here is how to approach it without the hype.
First, check the support levels. Technical analysts are pointing to $86.82 as the immediate safety net. If it breaks below that, we could see a slide toward $80. If it holds, the next resistance is up at **$92.25**.
Second, ignore the daily noise. This is a "multi-year turnaround" story. It has been for five years, and it probably will be for another two. If you don't have the stomach for a bank that is still fixing its 2016 mistakes, this isn't the ticker for you.
Third, watch the NII guidance in the next quarter. If they can beat that $50 billion projection, the stock will likely pop back toward $100. If they start cutting that number, $80 is coming fast.
Honestly, Wells Fargo is finally acting like a normal bank again. No more scandals (hopefully), no more growth caps, just the hard work of trying to be efficient. It's not a get-rich-quick play. It's a "maybe-it-eventually-catches-up-to-JPMorgan" play.
Next Steps for Investors:
- Monitor the $86.82 support level: Set an alert. If it holds here, the recent dip might just be a "healthy correction" after a huge 2025 rally.
- Evaluate your exposure to Financials: With NII guidance coming in lower across the board for big banks, make sure you aren't over-leveraged in the sector.
- Review the March 2, 2026 ex-dividend date: If you want that next payout, you'll need to own the shares before then.