JPMorgan exceeds profit expectations on $1.5 billion boost from better-than-expected loan losses

JPMorgan Chase is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings before the opening bell Wednesday

Here’s what Wall Street expects:

• Earnings: $3 per share, 2.6% higher than a year earlier, according to Refinitiv
• Revenue: $29.8 billion, 0.6% lower than a year earlier
• Net Interest Income: $12.98 billion on a reported basis, according to StreetAccount.
• Trading Revenue: Fixed income $3.73 billion, Equities $2.16 billion
• Investment Banking fees: $2.75 billion

JPMorgan Chase, the first big bank to report third-quarter earnings, will be closely watched for signs of an inflection point in the industry’s weak loan growth.

Consumers and businesses have been flush with cash this year thanks to government stimulus efforts, paying down credit card balances and taking out fewer commercial loans. That prompted CEO Jamie Dimon to call loan demand “challenged” in April.

Another area of interest will be the firm’s Wall Street trading and advisory division. For most of the pandemic, booming trading, IPO issuance and mergers have led to robust fees for JPMorgan’s investment bank.

That is expected to moderate in the third quarter. Last month, JPMorgan executive Marianne Lake said that trading revenue will be 10% lower than a year ago, which was an unusually strong quarter.

Dimon will likely be asked about the bank’s acquisition strategy after a string of recent deals. Last month, the bank acquired restaurant review service the Infatuation and college-planning platform Frank. That followed three acquisitions of fintech start-ups in the past year.

Shares of JPMorgan have climbed 31% this year, trailing the 38% increase of the KBW Bank Index.

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