JPMorgan Chase, the biggest U.S. lender by assets, posted record second quarter profit of $8.3 billion, exceeding estimates as it posted stronger-than expected trading results.
Profit surged 18 percent, clobbering analysts estimates for a 9.4 percent increase. Earnings per share was $2.29 in the quarter, beating the $2.22 estimate. It was the fourteenth straight quarter that the firm beat analysts’ estimates, according to Barclays analysts. The company’s revenue increase was less stark, rising 6 percent to $28.4 billion.
In the firm’s trading division, markets revenue rose 13 percent to $5.4 billion. J.P. Morgan said in May that it expected revenue from its trading division to be about flat from the year earlier because of several one-time charges, including a $100 million hit related to a tax-oriented fixed-income unit.
JP Morgan shares rose 0.7 percent in premarket trading Friday. They are little changed for 2018 through Thursday’s close.
“We see good global economic growth, particularly in the U.S., where consumer and business sentiment is high,” CEO Jamie Dimon said. “Because of this broad growth and the strong underlying performance across each of our businesses, the company delivered record results this quarter. We also want to acknowledge that global competition is getting stronger.”
The biggest U.S. bank by assets is also the first major lender to report earnings, giving investors a glimpse into how the finance industry’s Wall Street and Main Street businesses fared in the quarter. After reshuffling his key deputies and announcing the creation of a healthcare startup in January and disclosing plans for a soaring new headquarters in February, Dimon was relatively quiet in the second quarter. In May, the bank said it had submitted an application to the Chinese securities regulator for a new majority-owned securities business there. Last month, J.P. Morgan, Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon announced that Harvard professor Atul Gawande would lead the healthcare startup.
The bank also got approval from the Federal Reserve to boost its quarterly dividend to 80 cents per share from the current 56 cents in the third quarter and repurchase up to $20.7 billion in shares.
Here’s what Wall Street expected:
- Earnings: $2.22 per share, expected by Thomson Reuters
- Revenue: $27.36 billion, forecast by Thomson Reuters
- Net income: $7.69 billion, according to a FactSet estimate, 9.4 percent higher than the year-ago period.
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