What happened The stock market was having a generally negative day on Friday, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 firmly in negative territory at noon ET. Most bank stocks weren't faring much better, as megabank JPMorgan Chase's lowered guidance put negative pressure on most of the sector. Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) was a big exception. The consumer-focused bank stock was rising, with shares up by more than 3% after being up as much as 5% earlier in the day. Image source: Wells Fargo. So what Wells Fargo reported its fourth-quarter earnings before the open on Friday, and unlike with JPMorgan Chase, investors seem thrilled with the results. And it isn't difficult to see why. Starting with the headline numbers, Wells Fargo's revenue came in at $20.86 billion, more than $2 billion higher than analysts had been expecting. On the bottom line, net income grew by 86% compared with the fourth quarter last year, handily beating expectations as well. The bank's numbers were partially fueled by a $875 million reserve release after pandemic-related loan losses weren't nearly as bad as feared. CEO Charlie Scharf specifically called out stronger consumer spending and growth in asset management fees, and he also said that consumer lending strengthened as the year went on. Plus, the bank aggressively bought back its own stock, with $7 billion of repurchases in the fourth quarter alone. Now what These numbers are certainly impressive. But 2022 could be another year of major growth for the bank, as its consumer-focused business model puts it in a great position to benefit as interest rates begin to rise. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that the Federal Reserve could end up raising rates as much as six or seven times in 2022 to combat inflation, and this could be a big boost to Wells Fargo's net interest income. 10 stocks we like better than Wells FargoWhen our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Wells Fargo wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of January 10, 2022 JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of The Ascent, a Motley Fool company. Matthew Frankel, CFP® owns Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source