JPMorgan Chase Earnings Preview: Revenue, EPS Expected to Fall

JPMorgan Chase JPM unveils its next round of earnings this Friday, January 13, 2012. Here's Benzinga's advanced look at JPMorgan Chase's fourth quarter earnings report.

Earnings and Revenue:

Wall Street expects an EPS of 94 cents/share and revenues of $23.44 billion. JPMorgan Chase's latest numbers will no doubt be compared with the company's year-ago quarter, when it reported a profit of $1.12/share on revenues of $26.72 billion. Investors are bracing themselves for Friday when we'll learn if the company reports lower EPS and slightly reduced revenue from the year-ago quarter, as analysts are predicting.

Here's how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Quarter	Q3	Q2	Q1	Q4
EPS Estimate	$0.93	$1.21	$1.16	$1.00
EPS Actual	$1.02	$1.27	$1.28	$1.12

(Estimates Source: Zacks)

Stock Performance:

Shares of JPMorgan Chase were trading at $35.30 as of January 9, 2012. For a full 12 months, the return has risen by 2.4%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.

• Long-term shareholders are already enjoying 12-month gains prior to the announcement

Average Stock Rating:

The average rating by analysts is a Moderate Buy. The strength of this rating has crept upwards over the past three months.

Competitors:

Wondering how some of the other financials companies are doing? Here are a few of JPMorgan Chase's peers in that sector.

• Bank of America BAC: Hold with a $0.28 recent quarter EPS
• Citigroup C: Moderate Buy with a $1.23 recent quarter EPS
• Deutsche Bank AG (USA DB: Hold with a $1.03 recent quarter EPS
• Goldman Sachs Group GS: Hold with a -$0.84 recent quarter EPS

The banks-major regional company's industry has seen price/earnings growth of 2.9% during the current fiscal year.

Finally, a description of the company's main areas of operation: J.P. Morgan Chase is a global securities, investment banking and retail banking firm with operations worldwide.

Take Action:

Now that you have reviewed all the numbers, be ready to move if the upcoming JPMorgan Chase earnings report has any surprises. Also, come back to Benzinga after the announcement for a full recap and a guide to your next steps.

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