JPM, WFC, C: A snapshot of the major banks’ Q2 2023 earnings results

A couple of major banks reported their second quarter 2023 earnings results on Friday. JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup all exceeded expectations on their revenue and earnings for the quarter. Shares of JPMorgan and Wells Fargo rose soon after the earnings announcements but went on to pare their gains later in the day. Citigroup’s stock, meanwhile, took a dip due to lower revenue and profits. Here’s a look at how these banks fared in Q2:

JPMorgan

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) delivered reported revenue of $41.3 billion for Q2 2023, which was up 34% year-over-year and ahead of estimates of $38.8 billion. Managed revenue also grew 34% to $42.4 billion. GAAP EPS grew 72% to $4.75 while adjusted EPS amounted to $4.37, beating projections of $4.

Net interest income (NII) was up 44%, or up 38%, excluding First Republic. NII, excluding Markets, rose 63%, driven mainly by higher rates but partly offset by lower deposit balances. Non-interest revenue grew 25%, driven by higher CIB Markets non-interest revenue. Non-interest expense increased 11%. Provision for credit losses more than doubled to $2.9 billion. JPMorgan saw revenues and net income increase across all its segments in the second quarter.

“The U.S. economy continues to be resilient. Consumer balance sheets remain healthy, and consumers are spending, albeit a little more slowly. Labor markets have softened somewhat, but job growth remains strong. That being said, there are still salient risks in the immediate view—many of which I have written about over the past year. Consumers are slowly using up their cash buffers, core inflation has been stubbornly high (increasing the risk that interest rates go higher, and stay higher for longer), quantitative tightening of this scale has never occurred, fiscal deficits are large, and the war in Ukraine continues, which in addition to the huge humanitarian crisis for Ukrainians, has large potential effects on geopolitics and the global economy.” – CEO Jamie Dimon

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) posted revenue of $20.5 billion for the second quarter of 2023, up 20% from the same period a year ago. EPS increased 67% YoY to $1.25. Analysts had predicted EPS of $1.17 on revenue of $20 billion.

Net interest income grew 29%, fueled mainly by higher interest rates and higher loan balances, but partly offset by lower deposit balances. Non-interest income rose 8%, driven by higher trading revenue in the Markets business. Wells Fargo recorded revenue increases across all its segments except Wealth and Investment Management.   

“The U.S. economy continues to perform better than many had expected, and although there will likely be continued economic slowing and uncertainty remains, it is quite possible the range of scenarios will narrow over the next few quarters.” – CEO Charlie Scharf

Citigroup

Citigroup’s (NYSE: C) revenue dropped 1% YoY to $19.4 billion in Q2, while EPS fell 39% to $1.33. Despite the declines, the top and bottom line numbers managed to surpass analysts’ expectations for EPS of $1.30 on revenue of $19.3 billion.

Net interest income rose 16% to $13.9 billion. Non-interest revenues fell 28% to $5.5 billion. End-of-period loans were $661 billion, up 1% YoY while end-of-period deposits totaled approx. $1.3 trillion at quarter-end.

“Our Services businesses continued to deliver strong revenues, with Treasury and Trade Solutions and Securities Services both up a healthy 15%. 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. In Banking, the long-awaited rebound in Investment Banking has yet to materialize, making for a disappointing quarter.”– CEO Jane Fraser