Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” Tuesday, Wells Fargo banking analyst Mike Mayo singled out Citigroup stock as his favorite bank name. Mayo said Citigroup’s stock could double over the next two-and-a-half years “just by returning to its tangible book value.” Citigroup sold 73% of its tangible books at the end of June, up from 60% at the end of last December, according to FactSet data. Under the leadership of CEO Jane Fraser, “if they hit their targets this year, they should have the best relationship between revenue growth and cost growth in the industry, and we expect earnings to double over the three years ending in 2026. So we” They’re executed “I will see that it is not done,” Mayo added. C YTD mountain Citigroup in 2024. The analyst, who began his career in 1988 and worked at the Federal Reserve, UBS, Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, Prudential, Deutsche Bank and CLSA before landing at Wells Fargo in 2017, hailed US banks. endurance. US banks strengthened their operations during the Covid-19 pandemic so much that they could weather the regional banking mini-crisis of 2023 relatively unscathed. All of the nation’s largest banks have passed the Federal Reserve’s annual stress tests designed to measure whether banks can withstand a severe economic downturn. “Even after running this model, banks still have enough excess capital to support the economy,” Mayo noted. “Recession or no recession; higher rates or lower rates … whatever affects you, I think the banks are handling it pretty well right now.”
