Investing.com - JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) ended 2020 on a high note, handily beating consensus forecasts for fourth-quarter earnings as its investment bank rode the recovery in global markets and its commercial bank kept a lid on bad loans.
Net income rose to $12.1 billion, or $3.79 a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $8.5 billion, or $2.57/share, 12 months ago, the last quarter to be unaffected by the pandemic.
The bank's revenue rose 3% to $30.2 billion: Noninterest revenue surged 13% to $16.8 billion, driven by trading gains and investment bank fees that were helped by a fourth quarter full of initial public offerings. That offset a 7% drop in revenue from the group's core lending business.
Provisions against possible bad loans rose however to $1.89 billion, in a sign that the effects of the pandemic on its corporate loan book in particular will play out for some quarters to come. The bank had released a net $611 million in provisions in the third quarter after taking a huge initial hit of some $8 billion at the start of the pandemic.
JPMorgan shares are up 11% from the beginning of the year, and down just 1.1% from their 52-week high of $142.73 set on January 14. They are outperforming the S&P 500 which is up 1.1% from the start of the year.
JPMorgan follows other major Financial sector earnings this month
PNC Financial also beat expectations on Friday with fourth-quarter EPS of $3.26 on revenue of $4.21 billion, compared to forecast for EPS of $2.59 on revenue of $4.13 billion.
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