Global financial services giant Citigroup (NYSE: C) met Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q3 2026, with sales up 7.8% year on year to $23.85 billion. Its GAAP profit of $2.85 per share was 7.4% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

Is now the time to buy Citigroup? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free.

Company Overview

With operations in nearly 160 countries and a history dating back to 1812, Citigroup (NYSE: C) is a global financial services company that provides banking, investment, wealth management, and payment solutions to consumers, corporations, and governments.

Sales Growth

In general, banks make money from two primary sources. The first is net interest income, which is interest earned on loans, mortgages, and investments in securities minus interest paid out on deposits. The second source is non-interest income, which can come from bank account, credit card, wealth management, investment banking, and trading fees. Over the last five years, Citigroup grew its revenue at a sluggish 5.4% compounded annual growth rate. This was below our standard for the banking sector and is a rough starting point for our analysis.

Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. Citigroup’s annualized revenue growth of 8.8% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, which is encouraging. Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers because they were impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.

This quarter, Citigroup grew its revenue by 7.8% year on year, and its $23.85 billion of revenue was in line with Wall Street’s estimates.

Net interest income made up 67.2% of the company’s total revenue during the last five years, meaning lending operations are Citigroup’s largest source of revenue.

Net interest income commands greater market attention due to its reliability and consistency, whereas non-interest income is often seen as lower-quality revenue that lacks the same dependable characteristics.

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Tangible Book Value Per Share (TBVPS)

Banks are balance sheet-driven businesses because they generate earnings primarily through borrowing and lending. They’re also valued based on their balance sheet strength and ability to compound book value (another name for shareholders’ equity) over time.

This explains why tangible book value per share (TBVPS) stands as the premier banking metric. TBVPS strips away questionable intangible assets, revealing concrete per-share net worth that investors can trust. On the other hand, EPS is often distorted by mergers and flexible loan loss accounting. TBVPS provides clearer performance insights.

Citigroup’s TBVPS grew at a decent 5.1% annual clip over the last five years. TBVPS growth has accelerated recently, growing by 6.4% annually over the last two years from $89.68 to $101.59 per share.

Over the next 12 months, Consensus estimates call for Citigroup’s TBVPS to grow by 8.2% to $109.96, paltry growth rate.

Key Takeaways from Citigroup’s Q3 Results

It was good to see Citigroup beat analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. Zooming out, we think this was a decent quarter. Investors were likely hoping for more, and shares traded down 1.4% to $129.72 immediately after reporting.

Big picture, is Citigroup a buy here and now? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).