Citi (C, Financial) is pushing forward with its strategic plan to streamline and enhance its operations, announcing the decommissioning or replacement of 211 applications by mid-2025. The bank has also improved its payment control systems in 85 countries outside the United States to better identify large, unusual transactions, analyzing an average of approximately three million payments daily.
In a bid to bolster its lending operations, Citi has introduced a strategic loan platform across North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions to handle new institutional corporate loans. The institution is ramping up its use of generative AI tools, rolling out new features for faster access and increased productivity, with a significant expansion in usage of two enterprise tools in early 2025, including a fivefold increase in the second quarter.
Furthermore, Citi's AI developer tool facilitated approximately 740,000 automated code reviews, saving around 100,000 developer hours weekly. The implementation of Agentic AI in production for development work marks Citi's leadership in AI-driven engineering.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast
Based on the one-year price targets offered by 21 analysts, the average target price for Citigroup Inc (C, Financial) is $94.07 with a high estimate of $110.00 and a low estimate of $71.21. The average target implies an upside of 6.12% from the current price of $88.65. More detailed estimate data can be found on the Citigroup Inc (C) Forecast page.
Based on the consensus recommendation from 22 brokerage firms, Citigroup Inc's (C, Financial) average brokerage recommendation is currently 2.0, indicating "Outperform" status. The rating scale ranges from 1 to 5, where 1 signifies Strong Buy, and 5 denotes Sell.
Based on GuruFocus estimates, the estimated GF Value for Citigroup Inc (C, Financial) in one year is $61.26, suggesting a downside of 30.89% from the current price of $88.645. GF Value is GuruFocus' estimate of the fair value that the stock should be traded at. It is calculated based on the historical multiples the stock has traded at previously, as well as past business growth and the future estimates of the business' performance. More detailed data can be found on the Citigroup Inc (C) Summary page.
C Key Business Developments
Release Date: April 15, 2025
- Net Income: $4.1 billion.
- Earnings Per Share (EPS): $1.96.
- Return on Tangible Common Equity (RoTCE): 9.1%.
- Total Revenue: $21.6 billion, up 3% year-over-year.
- Expenses: $13.4 billion, down 5% year-over-year.
- Cost of Credit: $2.7 billion.
- Capital Returned to Shareholders: $2.8 billion, including $1.75 billion in buybacks.
- CET1 Capital Ratio: 13.4%.
- Tangible Book Value Per Share: $90.
- Services Revenue: Highest first-quarter revenue in a decade.
- Markets Revenue: Up 12%.
- Investment Banking Revenue: Up 12%, with M&A revenue nearly doubling.
- Wealth Revenue: Up 24%.
- US Personal Banking Revenue: Up 2%.
- Average Loans: Increased 1%.
- Average Deposits: Increased 2%.
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
- Citigroup Inc (C, Financial) reported a strong first quarter with net income of $4.1 billion and earnings per share of $1.96.
- The company achieved a 5% year-over-year decline in expenses, demonstrating disciplined expense management.
- Citigroup Inc (C) delivered its third consecutive quarter of positive operating leverage across all five business lines.
- The Services division recorded its highest first-quarter revenue in a decade, with significant growth in TTS and Security Services.
- The company returned $2.8 billion in capital to shareholders, including $1.75 billion in buybacks, showcasing a commitment to returning capital.
Negative Points
- The macroeconomic outlook is more negative than anticipated, with prolonged uncertainty potentially impacting confidence.
- Non-interest revenues, excluding markets, were down 6%, offsetting gains in banking and wealth.
- The firm's cost of credit was $2.7 billion, reflecting uncertainty and deterioration in the macroeconomic outlook.
- Corporate lending revenues declined 1% due to lower loan balances and higher recoveries in the prior year.
- Retail services revenues declined 11%, primarily driven by higher partner payment accruals.
