LDN - Business

JPMorgan logs Q1 profit of $14.6 billion as CEO warns of uncertainty over global trade, other events

[April 12, 2025] By MATT OTT

NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan’s net income rose 9% to $14.6 billion in the first quarter and the New York bank beat Wall Street’s profit and revenue targets, but its chief executive warned of global economic uncertainties ahead due to President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war and other geopolitical tensions.

CEO Jamie Dimon said a strong performance by the bank’s markets division helped lift it to another strong quarter, but he added trade tensions to his list of potential negatives facing the bank and broader economy.

JPMorgan’s earnings per share rose to $5.07 per share from $4.44 a year ago. The result beat Wall Street profit projections of $4.63 a share, according to the data firm FactSet. Total managed revenue hit $46 billion, up from the $41.9 billion a year ago. Wall Street was expecting revenue of $44 billion.

Trump’s herky-jerky tariff increases — currently bumped up by 10% for most U.S. trading partners and 145% for China — have sent financial markets into dizzying fluctuations for weeks and created an enormous amount of uncertainty about where the global economy is headed. That’s bad for banks, which thrive on stability and healthy consumers and businesses borrowing money.

JPMorgan’s trading desk thrived in the first three months of 2025, helped by the market's volatility, which began well before Trump rolled out his massive “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2.

The bank’s markets revenue rose 21% in the period, with equities revenue up 48% from a year ago.

Consumer and community banking revenue rose 4% from the same period last year, to $18.3 billion.

With regard to China, which further escalated its tariffs on imports from the U.S. to 125%, JPMorgan executives said it was too early to make any long-term projections or statements about the impact of the ongoing trade war on its business there.

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JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on the "Mornings with Maria Bartiromo" program, on the Fox Business Network, in New York Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

“We really have to see how things play out," said Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum. ”In the near term, that business is performing fine and we are not seeing any effect."

JPMorgan set aside $3.3 billion to cover bad loans, up from $1.9 billion a year ago, while repurchasing $7 billion of common stock and boosting its dividend 12%.

JPMorgan shares rose 2% in morning trading, while broader Wall Street indexes shifted between small losses and gains and were, so far, absent of the wild swings they've seen in recent weeks.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley also beat Wall Street’s first-quarter projections. The New York bank also cited a strong performance from its equities trading division, helping boost its net income to $4.3 billion and revenue to a record $17.7 billion. Its shares were down 1.6%.

Wells Fargo also reported early Friday, with the San Francisco bank posting first-quarter net income of $4.89 billion, or $1.39 per share. That topped analysts’ forecast for earnings of $1.23 per share.

In a statement, CEO Charles Scharf said: ”We support the administration’s willingness to look at barriers to fair trade for the United States, though there are certainly risks associated with such significant actions,” adding that the bank is “prepared for a slower economic environment in 2025.”

Wells shares fell 4% in the morning.

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