A swath of the nation’s largest lenders, including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs, reported quarterly and annual financial results on Wednesday that beat analysts’ expectations, and largely expressed a go-go attitude about what’s ahead for the economy after President-elect Donald J. Trump is inaugurated next week.
JPMorgan, the nation’s biggest bank, said it earned $14 billion in profits in the fourth quarter, and nearly $59 billion for the full year. Wells Fargo made $5.1 billion in the fourth quarter and $20 billion for the year and said wealthy depositors were plowing more money into its higher-end savings products. Citi, which also topped estimates, reported net income of $2.9 billion in the quarter and $12.7 billion for the full year.
Goldman Sachs, which saw fourth quarter profits of $4 billion and $14 billon for 2024, said it had particular success connecting risky companies looking for money to clients willing to lend it, typically a sign that credit conditions, as Wall Street puts it, remain fluid.
To some degree, the results were not a surprise: Bank stocks rose even faster than the broader market in 2024, which ended the year up 23.3 percent, as lenders took advantage of a hot stock market and pickup in corporate financing activity to fatten profits. Still, bankers traditionally cloak themselves as a risk-averse bunch, and given the questions about the future for interest rates, deal making and the geopolitical world, their optimism about what’s ahead is noteworthy.
