Wells Fargo's 64 cents earnings per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 exceeded analysts' earnings projections by 5 cents. The biggest factor was a $179 million recovery from its loan-loan provision compared with adding $644 million a year ago. David Rolfe, Journal Wells Fargo & Co.'s ability to reverse the need for a nine- to 10-figure quarterly loan-loss provision enabled the bank to post a 4.1% increase in fourth-quarter net income to $2.99 billion. By comparison, the bank had $2 billion in net income for the third quarter, $2.38 billion loss during the second quarter and $2.87 billion in net income a year ago. The fourth-quarter 2019 comparison predates the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the bank and the U.S. economy beginning in mid-March.