JPMorgan Chase on Wednesday posted record quarterly and annual earnings and revenue, reinforcing the company’s status as the biggest and most profitable bank in U.S. history.
Here’s what the company reported:
- Earnings: $4.81 a share vs. $4.11 LSEG estimate
- Revenue: $43.74 billion vs. $41.73 billion expected
The bank said profit rose 50% to $14 billion in the fourth quarter as noninterest expenses fell 7% from a year earlier, when the firm had a $2.9 billion FDIC assessment tied to regional bank failures.
Revenue climbed 10% to $43.74 billion, helped by Wall Street operations and better-than-expected net interest income of $23.47 billion, exceeding the StreetAccount estimate by almost $400 million.
Shares of the bank rose 1.1% in morning trading.
JPMorgan was already the biggest American bank by assets when it won an auction to take over First Republic out of Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. receivership in 2023. So while it paid the largest FDIC assessment among its peers a year ago to shore up the deposit insurance fund, it was also a major winner from the regional banking crisis, gaining even more deposits and assets in the tumult.
Fixed income trading revenue jumped 20% to $5 billion, topping the $4.42 billion StreetAcount estimate on rising credit and currency results. Equities revenue climbed 22% to $2 billion, missing the $2.37 billion estimate and underperforming the firm’s rivals at Goldman Sachs.
Investment banking fees jumped 49% to $2.48 billion, topping the $2.39 billion estimate.
CEO Jamie Dimon said in the release that the economy was “resilient,” buoyed by low unemployment and healthy consumer spending, as well as optimism for the Trump administration’s pro-growth agenda.
“However, two significant risks remain,” Dimon said. “Ongoing and future spending requirements will likely be inflationary, and therefore, inflation may persist for some time. Additionally, geopolitical conditions remain the most dangerous and complicated since World War II. As always, we hope for the best but prepare the firm for a wide range of scenarios.”
On a call with reporters, CFO Jeremy Barnum said that net interest income for 2025 would be about $94 billion.
Banks ended the year with several reasons to be bullish: Wall Street activity has picked up at the same time that Main Street consumers remain resilient, while the election victory of Donald Trump has led to hopes of regulatory relief.
While the business is thriving, analysts will likely ask Dimon about his succession planning after his No. 2 executive, Daniel Pinto, said he was stepping down as chief operating officer in June. Dimon signaled last year that he was likely to step down as CEO within five years.
Another question is how the changing outlook for Federal Reserve rate cuts will impact the bank across its sweeping operations. While Fed officials expect two more cuts this year, economic indicators could cause them to pause.
Finally, analysts may press JPMorgan on what it intends to do with a possible windfall of capital if Trump regulators present a gentler version of the Basel 3 Endgame, as potential nominees have supported. Dimon said last May that share buybacks would be muted because the stock was expensive, but they’ve only climbed since.
Besides JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are also out with quarterly and full-year results Wednesday, while Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are due to report Thursday.
