Financials Crushed Q4 Earnings

The big US financial firms kicked off Q4 earnings season this week with JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and BlackRock all on deck.

So how did they perform? In short, they crushed it. All stocks are up on the week and several broke out to new all-time highs.

Here’s a brief rundown.

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JPMorgan

• Revenue $43.74 billion vs $41.73 billion expected
• Earnings $4.81 per share vs $4.11 expected

JPM shares jumped 2% on Wednesday after the release and 8.15% for the week to a new all-time high of $259.41 per share.

Goldman Sachs

• Revenue $13.87 billion vs $12.39 billion expected
• Earnings $11.95 per share vs $8.22 expected

Goldman shares did even better than JPMorgan, vaulting 6% on Wednesday and 11.78% for the week. It also closed at a record high.

Wells Fargo

• Revenue $20.38 billion vs $20.59 billion expected
• Earnings $1.58 per share vs $1.35 expected

While Wells Fargo missed on revenue, shares rose on the big earnings beat and strong net interest income guidance. Shares rose 6.69% on Wednesday and 10.18% for the week.

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Citigroup

• Revenue $19.58 billion vs $19.49 billion expected
• Earnings $1.34 per share vs $1.22 expected

The company also posted net income of $2.86 billion, up from a net loss of $1.84 billion a year ago. The stock jumped 6.49% on Wednesday after the report and 12.03% for the week.

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Morgan Stanley

• Revenue $16.22 billion vs $15.03 billion expected
• Earnings $2.22 per share vs $1.70 expected

The firm’s equities trading business was the big winner with a 51% jump in revenue to $3.3 billion, $650 million more than estimated. Shares had already rallied 4.76% on Wednesday in sympathy with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs but added another 4.03% on Thursday. Shares gained 11.68% for the week and closed at an all-time high.

Shares of Bank of America declined 1% after its earnings report but still ended the week 3.15% higher. BlackRock jumped 5.16% for the week despite an earnings miss.

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In conclusion

US financials keep winning and there’s no sign of things slowing down under the new Trump administration. Deregulation and a stronger economy will open up for more M&A, IPOs, and general investing activity that will all benefit the financial companies.

Financials were one of my Trump Trade picks after the election where I said that “I’d stick with the best of the best like JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, expecting the winners to keep winning.” I don’t plan on getting out of that trade anytime soon.