JPMorgan Worth More Than Citi, Bank of America, Wells Fargo
JPMorgan Chase is far ahead of its rivals — but the bank is still running the race with an eye on its competition.
In the first half of the year, JPMorgan's market value reached nearly $800 billion, more than the market values of its competitors Citigroup ($168 billion), Bank of America ($344 billion), and Wells Fargo ($260 billion) combined. In the same period, the bank raked in $30 billion in profit.
According to a Wednesday Bloomberg report, JPMorgan was able to reach market value highs because it benefited from acquiring First Republic Bank in May 2023. The acquisition made the bank even larger and more powerful, allowing it to be the biggest bank in the U.S. with $3.9 trillion in assets at the time of writing.
Related: JPMorgan Will Fire Junior Bankers Over a Common Practice That CEO Jamie Dimon Calls 'Unethical'
Meanwhile, JPMorgan's competitors have been facing unique difficulties. For example, Wells Fargo's growth in recent years has been limited by an asset cap, or a growth restriction imposed on the bank by the Federal Reserve in 2018, which limits the bank's total assets to $1.95 trillion. The action was in response to a scandal involving the bank's creation of fake customer accounts to meet sales targets. The Federal Reserve finally lifted the asset cap last month.
Citigroup, meanwhile, has been in the middle of a significant, multi-billion-dollar tech overhaul aimed at improving legacy software systems, and Bank of America has faced losses that could top $100 billion on its bond portfolio.
Still, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon isn't ready to "just declare victory," pointing out that the bank's rivals are gaining ground.
"All of our major bank competitors are back growing and expanding," Dimon said on an earnings call on Tuesday. "We're quite cautious to just declare victory, like somehow we're entitled to these returns forever."
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Photographer: Patrick Bolger/Bloomberg via Getty Images
JPMorgan reported its second-quarter results on Tuesday, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of stronger-than-expected earnings. Reported revenue for the quarter was $44.9 billion, higher than the revenue of $43.8 billion that analysts expected. The bank's net interest income, or the income it makes from loans and other products after interest payments, was $23.3 billion, up 2% year-over-year, while net income as a whole was $15 billion.
Related: JPMorgan Chase Says AI Could Cut Headcount By 10% in Some Divisions: 'We Will Deliver More'
JPMorgan's competitors are also reporting better-than-expected earnings. On Tuesday, Citi reported a net income of $4.02 billion, up 25% from the same period last year. The same day, Wells Fargo surpassed profit estimates with a net income of $5.49 billion, up from $4.91 billion a year prior.
On Wednesday, Bank of America beat estimates on earnings, with a net income of $7.1 billion compared to $6.9 billion a year prior, but was the only major U.S. bank to miss the mark on revenue.
JPMorgan shares were up over 19% year-to-date.
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