Investing.com - JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) kicked off the first-quarter earnings seasons with a bang, as a strong performance in domestic lending drove it to a record quarter for both revenue and profit, handily beating consensus forecasts.
The bank said the strength of its core lending business more than offset a 10% drop in adjusted revenue from markets in the three months to March, a reflection of a strong U.S. economy where defaults are still rare.
"Even amid some global geopolitical uncertainty, the U.S. economy continues to grow, employment and wages are going up, inflation is moderate, financial markets are healthy and consumer and business confidence remains strong," chief executive Jamie Dimon said in a statement.
The bank posted net earnings per share of $2.65, well ahead of the $2.36 forecast, on revenue of $29.85 billion. Analysts had expected both earnings and revenue to be broadly unchanged from last year's levels of $2.37 a share and $28.52 billion, respectively.
The bank's provisions against possible loan losses, which could have sent a warning signal about a possible cooling of the economy, fell slightly on a quarterly basis, although at $1.50 billion, they were up from $1.17 billion a year earlier.
The strength in commercial lending more than made up for a relatively weak quarter for the corporate and investment banking, where revenues from fixed-income markets fell by 8% and revenue from equity markets by 13%. The bank said it defended its position in global investment banking, however, keeping a market share of 9.6%.
The bank's $9.2 billion in earnings translated into a return on common equity of 16%, up from 15% a year earlier.
JPMorgan beats forecasts, while PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC) meets them
On Friday, PNC Financial reported first quarter EPS of $2.61 on revenue of $4.29B, compared to forecasts of EPS of $2.61 on revenue of $4.27B.
Commerce Bancshares earnings missed analysts' expectations on Thursday, with first quarter EPS of $0.85 on revenue of $324.73M. Investing.com analysts expected EPS of $0.91 on revenue of $335.66M
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