WASHINGTON — JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s net income soared 50 per cent to more than US$14 billion in the fourth quarter as the bank’s profit and revenue easily beat Wall Street forecasts. Other major banks reported banner earnings for the year as businesses and consumers continued to spend despite elevated interest rates.
JPMorgan’s earnings per share rose to US$4.81 from US$3.04 a year ago. The result beat Wall Street profit projections of US$4.09 a share, according to the data firm FactSet Research Systems Inc. Total managed revenue hit US$43.7 billion, up 10 per cent, from US$39.9 billion a year ago. Wall Street was expecting revenue of US$41.9 billion.
JPMorgan posted a record SU$54 billion profit for the year, or US$18.22 per share, adjusted for one-time expenses.
JPMorgan shares rose just less than one per cent in morning trading.
Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also issued strong results on Wednesday.
The country’s biggest banks have benefitted from higher interest rates for the past two years, when the United States Federal Reserve hiked up rates to combat the inflation that took root in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government’s latest consumer prices report, also issued Wednesday, showed that prices for many essentials rose, pushing the consumer price index to 2.9 per cent in December, the highest it has been since July. But underlying inflation trends, watched closely by the Fed, slowed to 3.2 per cent in December, better than analysts expected and a good sign for consumers and the broader economy.
That, combined with the strong bank earnings, boosted markets, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials each climbing 1.7 per cent and the technology-heavy Nasdaq gaining 2.2 per
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