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Why Wells Fargo says it might be time to take profits on energy — even as the bank hikes its oil price forecasts

Cnbc · 🇺🇦 public Ukraine · · 319 words · By Mike Sheen
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What to know about Why Wells Fargo says it might be time to take profits on energy — even as the bank hikes its oil price forecasts

Oil prices are likely to remain well above their levels prior to the Iran war, the consequences of which have choked global supply for the foreseeable future.

Claims checked 9
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Oil prices are likely to remain well above their levels prior to the Iran war, the consequences of which have choked global supply for the foreseeable future.

Why it matters

But, after racking up record monthly gains in March, analysts at Wells Fargo say it is now "time to consider taking profits in energy." The year-to-date performance of energy commodities has been the strongest since 2000 and Wells Fargo now sees "risk to…

Common ground

crude oil futures for May delivery were down 0.76% at $90.59 per barrel as of 02:48 a.m.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/15/wells-fargo-energy-profits-oil-price-forecasts.h…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 6
verified Verified 2
check_circle Corroborated 1
info
Claim 1: “we are concurrently downgrading the commodities energy sector from neutral to unfavorable”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence shows Wells Fargo downgraded 'US small-cap equities' to unfavorable, but there is no evidence in the snippets regarding a downgrade of the 'commodities energy sector' specifically.
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web search NEUTRAL — Wells Fargo Investment Institute on Tuesday downgraded U.S. small-cap equities to unfavorable from neutral, pointing to its heavy tariff exposure, elevated interest rates and weak earnings record. ...
https://www.marketscreener.com/news/wells-fargo-downgrades-u…
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web search NEUTRAL — The analysts suggest that Wells Fargo may struggle to replicate this level of performance until around mid-2026. “Therefore, even though the bank’s strategy makes sense, it may be tough going for the …
https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/wells-fargo…
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web search NEUTRAL — Wells Fargo was downgraded to neutral from buy, though its price target was increased from $40 to $47, by UBS after a 123% surge in the stock from the end of October.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/wells-fargo-downgraded-by-…
info
Claim 2: “U.S. crude oil futures for May delivery were down 0.76% at $90.59 per barrel as of 02:48 a.m. ET on Wednesday”
SINGLE SOURCE
The web results provide general links to oil price trackers and current prices (e.g., Brent at $105.10), but none of the snippets contain the specific price of $90.59 or the 0.76% drop for May delivery at 02:48 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
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web search NEUTRAL — Gain instant access to the live Crude Oil price, key market metrics, trading details, and intricate Crude Oil futures contract specifications. Dive into a wealth of data encompassing Crude Oil stocks,…
https://www.investing.com/commodities/crude-oil
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web search NEUTRAL — The current price of Brent crude oil today is $105.10 per barrel. Live charts, historical data, futures contracts, and breaking news on Brent prices can be found below. Brent Jul 2026.
https://oilprice.com/futures/brent/
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web search NEUTRAL — Crude Oil - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on May of 2026.The delivery point for WTI crude oil futures is the Cushing Hub in Oklahoma, and each futures contract represents 1,000…
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/crude-oil
info
Claim 3: “Wells Fargo now sees "risk to prices as the downside through year-end rather than to the upside," analysts wrote in a note published on Tuesday.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence contains a mention of Jefferies believing oil price risks are skewed to the downside, but does not provide a specific Wells Fargo note from 'Tuesday' confirming this exact sentiment. The claim remains uncorroborated by the provided evidence snippets.
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web search NEUTRAL — Samantha Dart, Goldman Sachs co-head of global commodities research, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the state of the energy sector, 2025 outlook, and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTT_M-ZdkLU
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web search NEUTRAL — Oil price risks remain skewed to the downside but increasing tension in the Middle East could change that outlook quickly. That’s what investment bank Jefferies believes, according to a research note …
https://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_price_risks_skewed_to_downs…
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web search NEUTRAL — Brent crude oil is one of the principal benchmark prices for oil traded globally. Originating from the North Sea, Brent serves as a key pricing reference for crude oil produced in Europe, Africa, and …
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/brent-crude-oil
info
Claim 4: “Wells Fargo hiked its forecasts for oil prices this year.”
SINGLE SOURCE
One source mentions Wells Fargo raising a price target for Exxon Mobil (XOM), but this is a specific stock forecast, not necessarily a general hike in oil price forecasts for the year. No general oil price forecast hike by Wells Fargo is explicitly confirmed in the snippets.
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web search NEUTRAL — Monthly and yearly energy forecasts, analysis of energy topics, financial analysis, congressional reports.We now expect that Brent crude oil prices will increase from an average of $81/b in 1Q26 to a …
https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/global_oil.php
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web search NEUTRAL — Crude Oil - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on May of 2026.
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/crude-oil
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web search NEUTRAL — On February 24, Wells Fargo analyst Sam Margolin raised the price recommendation on Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) to $183 from $156.
https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/wells-fargo-increases-exx…
info
Claim 5: “raising our 2026 year-end crude oil targets to $70-$80 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and $75-$85 per barrel for Brent crude.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence discusses general price targets for banks or current Brent prices, but does not contain the specific 2026 year-end targets of $70-$80 for WTI and $75-$85 for Brent crude.
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web search NEUTRAL — The current price of Brent crude oil today is $105.10 per barrel. Live charts, historical data, futures contracts, and breaking news on Brent prices can be found below.
https://oilprice.com/futures/brent/
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web search NEUTRAL — The "Halftime Report" traders debate Wells Fargo's bullish call on 4 big banks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zBz3Xe-pgY
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web search NEUTRAL — Price of oil (Brent Crude and WTI). The price of oil is the most important value on the international commodity markets.Wall Street is rushing to raise price targets for AMD stock after earnings. Here…
https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?ty…
verified
Claim 6: “Mason Mendez, investment strategy analyst at Wells Fargo”
VERIFIED
Multiple sources, including a Wells Fargo Investment Institute report and a report on CBDCs, explicitly identify Mason Mendez as an investment strategy analyst at Wells Fargo.
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web search NEUTRAL — John LaForge, head of real asset strategy, and Mason Mendez, investment strategy analyst, say commodities are like black holes, in that escaping the gravity of a supercycle is difficult for any indivi…
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-commodity-supercycle-i…
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web search NEUTRAL — Mason Mendez Investment Strategy Analyst.Source: Bloomberg and Wells Fargo Investment Institute. Daily data is from January 4, 2022, through October 17, 2023, and indexed to 100 as of January 4, 2022.…
https://fa.wellsfargoadvisors.com/walton-and-hitt-group/medi…
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web search NEUTRAL — The report was authored by John LaForge, head of real asset strategy at Wells Fargo Advisors, and Mason Mendez, investment strategy analyst. “We suspect it will be some years before a US CBDC is desig…
https://cryptogazette.com/wells-fargo-american-cbdc-could-be…
verified
Claim 7: “after racking up record monthly gains in March, analysts at Wells Fargo say it is now "time to consider taking profits in energy."”
VERIFIED
The evidence from saf.wellsfargoadvisors.com (an official Wells Fargo domain) explicitly mentions the 'Chart of the Week: Time to consider taking profits in energy' and discusses the energy market's outperformance.
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web search NEUTRAL — Wells Fargo Investment Institute provides perspective on the energy market's recent outperformance and the downside risk to oil prices in its Chart of the Week. Chart of the Week: Time to consider tak…
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thomas-bell-6b49bb12_chart-of…
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web search NEUTRAL — A Wells Fargo report suggested AWS was pausing some data center leasing discussions. Another February analyst note said Microsoft was stepping back from some data center lease negotiations.
https://africa.businessinsider.com/news/wells-fargo-analysts…
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web search NEUTRAL — Wells Fargo's shares dropped Friday after releasing its second quarter earnings meeting Wall Street expectations with strong loan growth and higher revenue, but lower net income than last year.
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/wells-fargo-beats-estima…
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Claim 8: “levels below $70 seen before the war began”
CORROBORATED
Two independent news sources (CNBC and EuroNews) both state that Brent crude oil was at roughly $70 per barrel before the conflict/war began.
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Oil prices — as measured by Brent crude oil, a global price benchmark — spiked to $118 per barrel by the end of March from roughly $70 per barrel before the conflict began
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/10/cpi-inflation-march-2026-bre…
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cross reference SUPPORTS — Brent was selling for a little more than $70 per barrel before the war began
https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/05/04/oil-markets-low…
info
Claim 9: “The year-to-date performance of energy commodities has been the strongest since 2000”
SINGLE SOURCE
While web results provide links to commodity price trackers (Investing.com, Bloomberg, Trading Economics), none of the provided snippets explicitly confirm that the year-to-date performance of energy commodities is the strongest since 2000.
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web search NEUTRAL — Get live commodity price quotes and performance, broken out by groups - including charts, news and technical analysis.
https://www.investing.com/commodities
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web search NEUTRAL — Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world.
https://www.bloomberg.com/energy
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web search NEUTRAL — Trading Economics provides data for several commodities including live bid/ask quotes, last trading prices, forecasts, charts with historical time series and news. This table was last updated on Sunda…
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodities
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.