Financials Post Strong Q4 Earnings; Big Beats For Goldman, Wells Fargo

Financial firms reported strong Q4 earnings, with 42% of financials reporting consensus-beating expectations.

Amanda Sneider and team at Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) note 63% of financial firms reported top-line results within one standard deviation of consensus expectations.

Financials beat earnings expectations

Analyzing the Q4 2013 results announced till January 17, 2014, the Goldman analysts point out that 42% of financial firms beat consensus earnings expectations by over one standard deviation as credit and lower tax rates helped the bottom-line. The following table captures the strong performance by the financials:

Moreover, the percentage of financials beats...