INSTANT VIEW: Wells Fargo reports $3 billion in net income

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday reported preliminary first quarter earnings of $3 billion, or about 55 cents per common share after preferred dividends, a stronger-than-expected result that sent the bank's shares up 28 percent in premarket electronic trading.

The results also bolstered the overall sector, sending the Select Sector SPDR Financial ETF (XLF.P: Quote, Profile, Research) 7.4 percent higher in premarket trading.

The following is reaction from industry analysts and investors:

WILLIAM SMITH, PRESIDENT OF SMITH ASSET MANAGEMENT INC, IN NEW YORK:

"There are good guys and bad guys, and we're not talking about the bad players here. Not all banks are good, and this is going to start separating the good actors from the bad actors."

"Still it's positive and it should be good for the entire sector. The tide lifts all ships."

CLEVELAND RUECKERT, MARKET ANALYST, BIRINYI ASSOCIATES INC. STAMFORD.

"It's definitely been taken well by the market - it's a very positive number. I'm not sure what the details are going to be but I suspect a lot of the stronger-than-expected earnings has to do with change in the accounting rules that were passed recently.

"Wells Fargo serves as good catalyst to get things going and hopefully we can have a fairly positive day."