JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM, XETRA:CMC) shares were little changed on Tuesday morning after the bank reported first quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations, driven by strength in trading and investment banking.
The lender posted earnings of $5.94 per share, ahead of the $5.45 estimate, while revenue came in at $50.54 billion, topping forecasts of $49.17 billion.
Net income rose 13% from a year earlier to $16.49 billion, as overall revenue increased 10%.
Performance in the bank’s markets division was a key contributor. Fixed income trading revenue climbed 21% to $7.08 billion, supported by higher activity across commodities, credit, currencies, and emerging markets. Investment banking fees also rose sharply, jumping 28% to $2.88 billion, aided by stronger merger advisory and equity underwriting activity.
Credit costs were lower than expected, further boosting results. The firm set aside $2.5 billion for loan losses, roughly $500 million less than analysts had anticipated. The bank released $139 million in reserves tied to consumer lending, while increasing reserves for business loans by $327 million. A year earlier, total provisions stood at $3.3 billion.
Across its divisions, the bank reported broad-based growth. Markets revenue rose 20% year over year, while assets under management reached $4.8 trillion, up 16%. Average loans increased 11% from a year earlier, and deposits rose 7%.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the firm delivered “strong results” during the quarter, pointing to solid performance across its corporate and investment bank, consumer banking, and asset and wealth management units.
Dimon also noted that while the US economy remained resilient, with consumers spending and businesses stable, there are ongoing risks, including geopolitical tensions, energy price volatility, and trade uncertainty.
“While we cannot predict how these risks and uncertainties will ultimately play out, they are significant and they reinforce why we prepare the Firm for a wide range of environments,” Dimon said.