JPMorgan (JPM) shares moved higher Monday after the banking giant boosted its full-year forecast for a key profit metric and said the U.S. economy remains 'fundamentally strong'.
JPMorgan, which is holding its first in-person investor day in more than two years today in New York, said full-year net interest income, a key gauge of bank profitability, would rise to $56 billion this year, a noted improvement from a target of "in excess of $53 billion" it published alongside its first quarter earnings last month.
The U.S.'s biggest commercial and investment bank also said it should meet a return on tangible capital equity target of 17% as it hold annual expenses at around $77 billion, although CFO Jeremy Barnum said inflation could lift that tally to as high as $79.5 billion.
CEO Jamie Dimon had cautioned in April on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the bank's profits, while also warning that rate hikes from the Federal Reserve "could be significantly higher than the market expects" between now and the end of the year.
JPMorgan shares were marked 7.2% higher in early afternoon trading Monday to change hands at $125.80 each, a move that would still leave the stock down around 24.9% for the year.
The bank earned $8.3 billion, or $2.63 per share, for the three months ending in March, down 42% from the prior-year period as global merger activity fell more than 20% from last year's SPAC-fueled first quarter frenzy.
Managed revenues, JPMorgan said, fell 4.6% from last year to $31.6 billion, firmly ahead of analysts' estimates of a $30.972 billion tally, while net interest income rose 7% to $14 billion.
The bank also built $902 million in reserves to set against bad loans and credit losses linked to both surging domestic inflation and the Russia's war on Ukraine, the bank said.
