Charles Schwab Reports Record 2021 Net income of $5.9Bn, up YoY 77%

The Charles Schwab Corporation announced yesterday that its net income for the fourth quarter of 2021 was a record $1.6 billion compared with $1.5 billion for the third quarter of 2021, and $1.1 billion for the fourth quarter of 2020. Net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 was a record $5.9 billion, compared with $3.3 billion for the year-earlier period.

The net revenue of Q4 2021 reached $4.7 billion, up 13% on a year basis. And the figure of 2021 was $18.5 billion, up YoY 58%. GAAP diluted earnings per common share of Q4 enjoyed an increase of YoY 33% to $0.76, and that of the whole year of YoY 33% to $2.83.

The company's financial results include TD Ameritrade from October 6, 2020 forward, as well as certain acquisition and integration-related costs and the amortization of acquired intangibles. For the fourth quarter and the twelve months of 2021, these transaction-related expenses totaled $255 million and $1.1 billion, respectively, on a pre-tax basis.

CEO Walt Bettinger said, "We delivered another year of record-breaking growth and financial performance in 2021 by staying true to our 'Through Clients' Eyes' strategy in the face of a fluctuating environment. 

"Investors remained actively engaged with the markets throughout the year, and our competitive positioning as a trusted financial partner offering both value and service continued to resonate in the marketplace. While some measures of engagement eased from the extraordinary levels seen during the first quarter 2021 're-opening' surge, activity generally exceeded the fourth quarter of 2020, when we included TD Ameritrade in our results for the first time, and core net new assets set yet another record over the final three months of 2021 at $162.2 billion. Clients brought us $80.3 billion in December alone, 28% above our prior single-month record, and our full-year total of $558.2 billion represents an 8% annual organic growth rate. We ended the year with $8.14 trillion in client assets across 33.2 million brokerage accounts, increases of 22% and 12%, respectively."