NEW YORK — JPMorgan on Friday reported that its net income fell 2% in the third quarter as the bank had to set aside more money to cover bad loans.
Net income fell to $12.9 billion from $13.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. However, the New York bank’s earnings per share rose to $4.37 from $4.33 because there are fewer outstanding shares in the latest quarter. That beat Wall Street analysts’ forecasts, which called for a profit of $3.99 a share, according to FactSet.
JPMorgan set aside $3.1 billion to cover credit losses, up from $1.4 billion in the same period a year ago.
Total revenues rose to $43.3 billion from $40.7 billion a year ago.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank continues to monitor geopolitical tensions that he called “treacherous and getting worse.” While Dimon did not cite specific any specific conflicts, he has previously voiced concerns about the war in Ukraine and the growing tensions in the Middle East.
“There is significant human suffering, and the outcome of these situations could have far-reaching effects on both short-term economic outcomes and more importantly on the course of history,” Dimon said in a statement.
Dimon often weighs in on global and economic issues that go beyond the scope of banking. He’s often seen as the banker that Washington and global leaders can turn to for advice, solicited or unsolicited. His comments tend to reverberate through Washington and Corporate America.
Net interest income, the difference between the interest the bank takes in on its loan portfolio and the interest in pays out on customer deposits, rose 3% to $23.5 billion. That came in above estimates of $22.9 billion, according to FactSet.
The country’s biggest banks have benefitted from higher interest rates for the last two years, but those rates are causing consumers and businesses to slow down spending due to higher financing costs.
The Federal Reserve’s mid-September interest rate cut happened too late in the quarter to significantly influence results, but investors are watching closely to see how that rate cut — and expected future ones — will affect banks’ results going forward.
For now, analysts expect JPMorgan’s net interest income to decline for the next few quarters, before returning to growth in the second quarter of 2025.
At their last meeting Sept. 18, Fed officials reduced their rate to 4.8%, from a two-decade high of 5.3%, and penciled in two more quarter-point rate cuts in November and December.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that remains the most likely outcome if the economy continues to show strength, as expected.