Corporate-Led Slowdown Recent bank earnings reports have revealed that the corporate influence on the sector is not upbeat. For instance, Citigroup saw its overall profits drop by 36%, hurt by its corporate and investment banking unit, which witnessed a 24% decline in revenues. A few factors that can help big bank earnings are a steady decline in inflation, a less-hawkish/dovish Fed, an improvement in the ongoing China-U.S. tensions, and a considerable upgrade in global economic growth.