“Hurricane Jamie” is awash in profit.
JPMorgan on Friday announced the Wall Street giant raked in $14 billion in profit in the second quarter — despite CEO Jamie Dimon’s dire economic predictions.
Instead, the bank’s profits jumped 67% from the previous quarter — boosted by the megabuck’s acquisition of First Republic Bank in May — to easily beat Wall Street estimates.
The deal, put together by regulators, brought in new customers, branches and deposits and pushed profit in JPMorgan’s retail banking division 71% higher.
The blowout earnings were a surprise to many who have followed Dimon’s largely pessimistic forecast for the inflation-rattled economy.
“That hurricane is right out there, down the road, coming our way,” he said last summer. “We just don’t know if it’s a minor one or Superstorm Sandy or Andrew or something like that. You better brace yourself.”
JPMorgan was able to weather the storm better than most thanks to the feds’ $50 billion bailout of First Republic.
The deal for the defunct bank gave JPMorgan a $2.7 billion gain while adding $1.2 billion to its credit charges. But even without the First Republic acquisition, JPMorgan’s would’ve seen its overall profit jump 40% this quarter.
“Consumer balance sheets remain healthy, and consumers are spending, albeit a little more slowly,” Dimon said Friday. “Labor markets have softened somewhat, but job growth remains strong.”
While JPMorgan in particular benefited from this year’s regional bank tumult, other big banks also got a boost from an inflow of deposits as consumers moved their money to larger institutions.
Citigroup reported earnings of $1.33 per share — more than the $1.30 per share Refinitiv analysts expected. Wells Fargo reported earnings of $1.25 per share compared to the $1.16 analysts at Refinitiv predicted.
“Amid a challenging macroeconomic backdrop, we continued to see the benefits of our diversified business model and strong balance sheet,” Citi CEO Jane Fraser said in a statement.
However, she acknowledged the difficulties the Citi faced this quarter.
“Markets revenues were down from a strong second quarter last year, as clients stood on the sidelines starting in April while the U.S. debt limit played out,” Fraser said.
“In Banking, the long-awaited rebound in Investment Banking has yet to materialize, making for a disappointing quarter.”
Over the last few weeks, Cava’s IPO and Liquid Death’s filing to go public have been seen as the beginning of a new bull market — with bankers saying there could be boom times ahead. Bankers are optimistic that activity could push revenues higher in the third quarter.
JPMorgan and Wells Fargo shares were little changed despite the better-than-expected earnings. Citigroup’s stock price slid 4%.
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