Major Bank Profits Surge More Than Expected In Q1, Drawing Customer Deposits From Smaller Players

Major U.S. financial institutions JP Morgan Chase & Co. JPM, Wells Fargo & Company WFC, BlackRock, Inc. BLK, Citigroup C and PNC Financial Services Group PNC reported higher-than-expected earnings in the first quarter of 2023 Friday, despite the financial crisis that rocked regional banks during the period.

Here are the key takeways from the earnings reports of major U.S. banks. 

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan announced earnings per share of $4.10, up from the $2.63 EPS reported in the first quarter of 2022 and 52% higher than the $3.41 EPS projected by Wall Street analysts.

The biggest U.S. financial institution posted record revenues of $38.35 billion, also beating estimates of $36.12 billion.

Customer deposits at JPMorgan rose by $37 billion from December 2022 to $2.38 trillion at the end of March 2023.

"We reported strong results in the first quarter, delivering net income of $12.6 billion and record revenue of $38.3 billion," said CEO Jamie Dimon. 

“The U.S. economy continues to be on generally healthy footings — consumers are still spending and have strong balance sheets, and businesses are in good shape. However, the storm clouds that we have been monitoring for the past year remain on the horizon, and the banking industry turmoil adds to these risks."

Shares of the company are trading 5.8% higher premarket Friday.

Wells Fargo & Company 

Wells Fargo announced earnings per share of $1.23, up from the 88-cent EPS reported in the first quarter of 2022, and 9% higher than the $1.13 EPS projected by Wall Street analysts.

The bank posted revenues of $20.73 billion for the quarter, also beating estimates of $20.09 billion.

Customer deposits at Wells Fargo slightly eased from $1.38 trillion at the end of 2022 to $1.356 trillion at the end of March 2023.

"We had strong results in the first quarter, including revenue growth from both the fourth quarter and a year ago," said Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf.

"Our diversified business model, strong capital position, mix of deposits, access to funding sources, and continued focus on financial and credit risk management allow us to support our customers throughout economic cycles,” Scharf added.

Shares of the company are trading 3.9% higher in Friday's premarket session.

BlackRock

BlackRock announced earnings per share of $7.93, down from the $9.52 EPS reported in the first quarter of 2022, but higher than the $7.73 EPS projected by Wall Street analysts. 

The asset manager posted revenues of $4.24 billion for the quarter, marginally lower than the expected $4.25 billion.

Total net inflows at BlackRock rose by $110 billion in the quarter, bringing total assets under management to $9.09 trillion. 

"BlackRock led the industry with $34 billion of bond ETF net inflows and accounted for over 60% of total fixed income ETF trading volume during the quarter," said BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink. “Throughout our history, moments of market dislocation and disruption have served as inflection points for BlackRock. We’ve always emerged stronger, more differentiated and more deeply connected with clients,” Fink added.

Shares of the company are trading 1.6% higher premarket Friday. 

Citigroup 

Citigroup announced earnings per share of $2.19, down from the $2.02 EPS reported in the first quarter of 2022, but 9.4% higher than the $1.67 EPS projected by Wall Street analysts.

The bank posted revenues of $21.4 billion for the quarter, higher than the expected $20.03 billion.

Customer deposits at Citigroup eased by 3% on the quarter, from $1.366 trillion at the end of 2022 to $1.33 trillion at the end of March 2023. 

"Citi delivered strong operating performance, showing good revenue growth and expense discipline despite the tumultuous environment for banks," said Citi CEO Jane Fraser. “While it is not an ideal environment for wealth management, the drivers of this business continue to be very positive." 

Shares of the company are trading 2% higher premarket Friday. 

PNC Financial Group 

PNC Financial Group announced earnings per share of $3.98, up from the $3.23 EPS reported in the first quarter of 2022 and 8.8% higher than the $3.67 EPS projected by Wall Street analysts.

The bank posted revenues of $5.6 billion for the quarter, slightly lower than the expected $5.61 billion.

Customer deposits at PNC rose by 0.3% on the quarter, from $434.9 billion at the end of 2022 to $436.2 billion at the end of March 2023. 

"PNC's first quarter results reflected the strength of our balance sheet and the power of our national franchise. During a quarter characterized by heightened market volatility, we grew deposits, increased our capital position and drove strong financial results," said PNC chairma Bill Demchak.

Shares of the company are 1.5% higher in the premarket session. 

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Benzinga file photo by Dustin Blitchok.