Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, appears on CNBC’s Squawk Box at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 22, 2020.
Adam Galica | CNBC
JPMorgan Chase exceeded analysts ’estimates of fourth-quarter earnings on better-than-expected trading results and a push for the release of money previously set aside for loan losses.
The company made a profit of $ 3.79 per share, exceeding the $ 2.62 per share estimated by analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. The bank would have exceeded estimates even without the 72-cent increase in EPS derived from credit reserve issues. The company generated revenue of $ 30.16 billion, exceeding the estimate of $ 28.7 billion.
“While the positive evolution of vaccines and incentives contributed to this release of reserves this quarter, our credit reserves of more than $ 30 billion continue to reflect significant short-term economic uncertainty and will allow us to bear a much worse economic environment than the current base forecasts of most economists, “CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement.
2020 has been a bright spot for Wall Street, which is expected to be the best year since the financial crisis in terms of total revenue, thanks to the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented actions to prop up markets. Investment bankers also benefited, as open markets generated growing demand for IPOs and a record period of debt issuance.
Last month, CEO Jamie Dimon said he expected fourth-quarter banking and investment revenue to be 20% higher than a year earlier.
Analysts may ask Dimon about succession planning after a health scare he had last year. Although he widely reported that Dimon had heart surgery last March, he only recently told the Wall Street Journal that his condition was so precarious that he thought “maybe he wouldn’t get it.”
Analysts will also be curious about the pace of stock repurchases the bank expects to make. JPMorgan announced a $ 30 billion share repurchase program last month after the Federal Reserve said the industry could restart amortization in the first quarter.
Shares of JPMorgan fell 8.7% last year, compared with a 4.3% drop in the KBW Bank index.
Here are the numbers:
- Profits: $ 3.79 per share, compared to $ 2.62 per share, according to Refinitiv.
- Revenue: $ 30.16 million, compared to the projected $ 28.70 million, according to Refinitiv.
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