Five of America's biggest banks posted a combined $49 billion in quarterly earnings on Tuesday, riding a a boom in stock trading, a flurry of initial public offerings, and a rebound in dealmaking to a record second quarter.
The robust earnings from JPMorgan $JPM Chase, Goldman Sachs $GS, Bank of America $BAC, Citigroup $C, and Wells Fargo $WFC marked a 39% increase from the same period a year earlier for the Wall Street giants, according to The Wall Street Journal.
JPMorgan reported second-quarter net income of $21.2 billion, the highest quarterly profit in the bank's history, with every line of business posting record revenue. Excluding a $4.6 billion gain on its Visa $V stake and $1.0 billion in gains on certain equity investments, net income was $16.9 billion. Equity Markets revenue jumped 86% year over year to $6.0 billion, while investment banking fees rose 30% to $3.3 billion, the highest level since 2021.
Goldman Sachs reported net revenues of $20.34 billion, up 39% from a year earlier, with net earnings of $6.63 billion. Goldman's equities business brought in $7.42 billion, a 72% year-over-year increase, with gains across derivatives, cash products, and prime financing. Investment banking fees reached $3.40 billion, a 55% increase, led by a 130% surge in equity underwriting.
Bank of America reported net income of $9.1 billion, up 27%, on revenue of $31.6 billion, up 15%. Total sales and trading revenue reached $7.1 billion, up 33% year over year, marking the 17th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. Equities revenue surged 70% to $3.6 billion. Total investment banking fees, excluding self-led deals, rose 50% to $2.1 billion.
Citigroup reported net income of $5.8 billion, up 45% from a year earlier, on revenues of $24.8 billion, the highest quarterly revenue for the bank in a decade. Equities trading revenue rose 45% to $2.3 billion, with prime balances up nearly 60%. Investment banking revenue climbed 44% to $1.55 billion.
Wells Fargo reported net income of $6.4 billion, or $2.00 per diluted share, up 17% from a year earlier. Markets revenue within its Corporate and Investment Banking segment rose 24%, and investment banking fees grew 35%.
The results also reflected strength in consumer businesses. Credit card balances climbed at JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo, and the share of borrowers falling behind on payments was generally smaller than it was 12 months earlier, according to The Journal.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the results reflected "a particularly favorable environment with an elevated level of market activity," while also flagging risks, including geopolitical instability, persistent inflation, and stretched asset valuations. Goldman CEO David Solomon said the appetite for AI financing had spread well beyond its original tech-and-infrastructure base, generating demand across a broad range of sectors, and cautioned that the investment cycle "remains in its early stages."
Across the first six months of the year, M&A activity industrywide surged 72% in the U.S. and 45% worldwide, with both figures hitting all-time highs in Dealogic's records, which stretch back to 1995. Even setting aside the SpaceX listing, the total raised in U.S. IPOs was more than twice the amount from the same period last year, per Moody's $MCO Ratings cited by The Journal.