JPMorgan Chase beats in Q2 on tax benefit

JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) reported higher earnings on modest growth in revenues during the second quarter, despite headwinds associated with low-interest rates. Net income rose to $2.82 per share from $2.29 per share a year ago, helped by income tax benefits of $768 million related to the resolution of certain tax audits.

This surpassed the Street projection of $2.50 per share.

Revenues improved 4% to $29.6 billion, riding on high consumer confidence and strong loan growth. Analysts had projected Q2 revenues of just $28.9 billion.

Helped by the popularity of its Sapphire card among millennials, credit card sales volume increased by 11% in Q2.

CEO Jamie Dimon said, “Double-digit growth in credit card sales and merchant processing volumes reflected healthy consumer spending and drove 8% growth in credit card loans, while mortgage and auto originations showed solid improvement, and we continued to attract new deposits, up 3%.

READ: Earnings preview: Wall St expects a lackluster Q2 from Bank of America

The Consumer and Community Banking business continued its strong run and recorded 11% revenue growth despite weakness in home lending.

Meanwhile, the Corporate and Investment Banking division fell 3% as dismal trading volumes continued, driven by a slowing economy and geopolitical tensions.

READ: Citigroup beats market expectations on Q2 results

Like its rival Citigroup (NYSE: C), JPMorgan benefited from the IPO of Tradeweb, excluding which, markets revenues would have been down 6%. Fixed Income markets revenue was down 3%, while Equity Markets revenue plunged 12% driven by lower client activity.

JPM shares fell 1.4% during pre-market trading on Tuesday. The stock has gained 15.7% in the year-to-date period and 7.4% in the trailing 12 months.

Competitors Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) are also reporting financial results today, while Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) will report on Wednesday.   

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