Although we previewed this Friday’s upcoming first-quarter results (11 April) from the world’s largest bank JPMorgan (JPM:NYSE) in last week’s magazine, these days an awful lot can change in markets in the course of a week.
Previously, chief executive Jamie Dimon had been upbeat about the outlook for the bank, claiming businesses were more optimistic about the economy thanks to president Trump’s ‘pro-growth agenda and improved collaboration between government and business’.
This week, in his annual letter to shareholders, Mr Dimon – who is a widely-respected figure in the US establishment, having led JPMorgan for more than 18 years – warned tariffs would ‘likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession’.
‘The quicker this issue is resolved the better, because some of the negative effects increase cumulatively over time and would be hard to reverse,’ said the chief executive, adding his ‘most serious concern’ was how tariffs would affect America’s long-term economic alliances.
The next few days sees results not just from JPMorgan but the rest of the ‘Big Four’, Bank of America (BAC:NYSE), Citigroup (C:NYSE) and Wells Fargo (WFC:NYSE).
Bank of America is the second-largest lender in the US and the second-biggest bank in the world by market cap after JPMorgan, with which it competes in savings and loans serving around 10% of all American bank deposits.
When it published its fourth-quarter results in January, which like JPMorgan were driven higher mainly by global markets activity, the bank’s chief executive Brian Moynihan said it was well set up for 2025 and he looked forward to ‘driving the company forward against the backdrop of a solid economic environment’.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo is the second-largest retail mortgage lender in the US, originating one in every four home loans and servicing some $1.8 trillion in mortgages, and chief executive Charlie Scharf has pinned his hopes for 2025 on growing the credit card and retail banking business.
US UPDATES OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS
QUARTERLY RESULTS
11 April: Bank of New York Mellon, Blackrock, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo
14 April: Goldman Sachs, M&T Bank
15 April: Bank of America, Citigroup, J&J, PNC Financial
16 April: Abbott Labs, Crown Castle, CSX, Elevance Health, Equifax, Kinder Morgan, Prologis, Travelers, US Bancorp
17 April: Blackstone, Freeport-McMoran, Marsh McLennan, Pentair, Pool, State Street, United Health
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