'Setting a high bar': Banks are in rally mode after JPMorgan and Wells Fargo top expectations
- Bank stocks in the US rose across the board on Friday after JPMorgan and Wells Fargo's quarterly results topped analysts' expectations.
- The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund, an ETF that tracks big bank stocks, jumped 2%.
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JPMorgan and Wells Fargo kicked off earnings season with a bang as both banks' first-quarter results topped Wall Street's expectations, sending names in the sector higher across the board.
JPMorgan's results were particularly impressive. The Jamie Dimon-led bank announced record earnings and revenue for the quarter. Credit Suisse analysts were impressed, putting out a note titled "Setting a High Bar."
"Trading marginally better than forecast; investment banking well ahead - we expect management to speak to improved conditions as the quarter progressed," the bank's analysts wrote.
Here's what the two banks reported, compared with what Wall Street analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting:
JPMorgan:
- Earnings per share: $2.65 versus $2.34 expected.
- Revenue: $29.85 billion versus $28.4 billion expected.
- Equity sales & trading revenue: $1.74 billion versus $1.73 billion expected.
Wells Fargo:
- Earnings per share: $1.20 versus $1.09 expected.
- Revenue: $21.77 billion versus $21 billion expected.
Both the Financial Sector SPDR Fund, an exchange-traded fund tracking big bank stocks' performance, and the S&P Regional Banking ETF jumped 2%.
Shares of JPMorgan rallied 4%, while Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup rose nearly 3%. Wells Fargo's gains were less pronounced, with shares ticking higher by just under 1%.
Read more: JPMorgan shares climb after the bank posts record earnings and revenue
The results largely stand in contrast with what Wall Street is expecting to be a weak corporate earnings season as fears of an economic slowdown have taken hold.
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are set to report their first-quarter results ahead of Monday's opening bell.
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