JPMorgan Chase (JPM) earnings Q4 2023

JPMorgan Chase reported fourth-quarter earnings before the opening bell Friday.

Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street analysts surveyed by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv, were expecting:

• Earnings per share: $3.04, may not compare with expected $3.32
• Revenue: $39.94 billion, vs. expected $39.78 billion

JPMorgan will be watched closely for clues on how banks fared amid volatile interest rates and rising loan losses.

While the biggest U.S. bank by assets has navigated the rate environment capably since the Federal Reserve began raising rates in early 2022, smaller peers have seen their profits squeezed.

The industry has been forced to pay up for deposits as customers shift cash into higher-yielding instruments, squeezing margins. At the same time, rising yields mean the bonds owned by banks fell in value, creating unrealized losses that pressure capital levels.

Concern is also mounting over rising losses from commercial loans, especially office building debt, and higher defaults on credit cards.

Beyond guidance on net interest income and loan losses for this year, analysts will want to hear what CEO Jamie Dimon has to say about the economy and banks’ efforts to tone down coming increases in capital requirements.

Wall Street may provide some help this quarter, with investment banking revenue higher than a year earlier, while trading may be “flattish,” JPMorgan said last month at a conference.  

Beaten-down shares of banks recovered in November on expectations that the Fed had successfully managed inflation and could cut rates this year.

Shares of JPMorgan jumped 27% last year, the best showing among big bank peers and outperforming the 5% decline of the KBW Bank Index.

Bank of America, Wells Fargo and