JPMorganChase (JPM) Q3 2026 earnings review
JPMorganChase's lending income climbs, but its costs rise even faster
JPMorganChase, the bank behind the Chase brand, earned more from lending and trading, but its costs climbed faster than revenue. Sales rose 8% from a year ago while expenses jumped 12%. Net income still increased 6%, because the bank set aside less money for loans that may go unpaid. Chief executive Jamie Dimon cut share buybacks sharply.
| Revenue excluding losses on bond sales | $50.8B +10% from a year ago, by our math; reported revenue $50.2B, +8% |
|---|---|
| Profit per share | $5.57 +10% from a year ago; $5.75 excluding the bond-sale losses |
| Costs | $27.3B +12% from a year ago |
| Full-year outlook | Not restated the release carries none; the earlier targets imply about 4% lending-income growth in Q4, by our math |
⚖️ Verdict: ⚪ Neutral
The story is unchanged, because the quarter gave support to both the optimists and the sceptics. Income from lending grew 6%, the quickest pace in five quarters, and credit card losses dropped. The bad news: costs held at the spring's level although trading revenue declined, and the bank's main capital ratio slipped again.
The question now is whether expenses come down as trading settles. By our math, the cost target JPMorganChase set three months ago needs fourth-quarter expenses about 3% below this quarter's. Either the bank trims spending or it lifts the target again. January's results will tell.
🐂 Bull Case
Lending Income Growth Sped Up to 6%
Most of JPMorganChase's revenue comes from net interest income: what it earns on loans and securities, minus what it pays depositors and lenders. The bank also reports that figure without Markets, its trading business, to show lending and deposit-taking apart from trading swings.
That measure reached $24.7 billion, up 6% from a year ago. A year earlier it was not growing at all, and last quarter it gained 4%. The release credits bigger deposit balances, more credit card borrowing and more loans to companies, partly offset by lower rates.
- Average deposits: up 8% from a year ago, and about $48 billion above last quarter
- Average loans: up 10% from a year ago
- New checking accounts: more than 650,000, net of closures
By our math, the $96.5 billion full-year target set three months ago leaves about $24.8 billion for the fourth quarter. That matches what the third quarter already produced, so the target no longer depends on further deposit growth.
What to watch: fourth-quarter net interest income excluding Markets, due with the results in January. A figure near $24.8 billion would confirm that deposit growth, not a one-off move in rates, carries this income.
Trading Revenue Rose 15% as Client Activity Slowed
Markets is the business where JPMorganChase trades stocks, bonds and currencies for clients. After an unusually strong spring, chief executive Jamie Dimon said that "activity did moderate somewhat during the quarter".
- Markets revenue: $10.3 billion, up 15% from a year ago
- Stock trading: up 49%
- Bond, currency and commodity trading: down 4%
- Investment banking fees: up 14% from a year ago, down 8% from last quarter
Stock trading explains the whole gain from a year ago. By our math the total sits about 15% below last quarter's, so trading is settling lower while staying well above last year's level.
What to watch: fourth-quarter Markets revenue against the $8.2 billion of a year earlier. Growth from that base would show the higher level of client trading has lasted beyond one strong spring.
Credit Card Losses Fell Below 3%
A bank sets money aside each quarter for loans it expects customers will not repay. JPMorganChase set aside $2.7 billion, 19% less than a year ago. As a share of revenue, that charge shrank by about 1.9 percentage points, by our math.
Credit cards improved most. The bank wrote off card loans at an annual rate of 2.91%, down from 3.15% a year ago. Last year the rate also eased between spring and autumn, so part of this move is seasonal.
What to watch: the fourth-quarter card write-off rate. Three months ago the bank expected about 3.2% for the full year, which implies about 3.1% for the fourth quarter by our math. A lower reading would mean that expectation was too cautious.
Positives this quarter didn't test
Three parts of the positive case got no new numbers in the press release or in the financial tables supplied with it.
- Spare capital put into lending instead of buybacks: chief executive Jamie Dimon repeated the priority; the return on the new loans will only show in future lending income.
- Artificial intelligence: the release gives no figure for savings or revenue; a disclosed cost or productivity number would move it.
- Bank capital rules: regulators' revised proposals drew no comment; a final rule with lower requirements would free capital.
🐻 Bear Case
Costs Rose 12%, Well Ahead of Revenue
"Each line of business performed well," chief executive Jamie Dimon said. Revenue supports him. Costs do not: the bank spent $27.3 billion, 12% more than a year ago. Sales grew only 8%. By our math, four cost lines took a larger share of revenue than last year.
- Professional and outside services, the fees paid to other firms: up 0.9 percentage points of revenue
- Marketing: up 0.6 points, after the spending itself grew 30%
- Technology: up 0.5 points
- Pay: up 0.2 points
This matters because profit before loan losses gained only 3%. Net income rose faster only because charges for bad loans dropped. By our math, that drop supplied almost half of the growth in pre-tax profit. Costs also held at last quarter's level even as revenue at the unit serving companies and investors declined 9%.
What to watch: fourth-quarter costs. By our math, the roughly $107.5 billion full-year target from three months ago needs them about 3% below this quarter's. A flat number would mean the bank overshoots its own plan.
Bond Losses and Loan Growth Lowered the Capital Ratio
Regulators judge a bank by its CET1 ratio: its core capital divided by its assets, weighted for risk. JPMorganChase's ratio slid to 13.9% from 14.8% a year ago. "In line with our hierarchy, we reduced share repurchases this quarter," chief executive Jamie Dimon said, and he put investing first.
- Share buybacks: $664 million, against $6.2 billion last quarter
- Unrealized losses on bonds: $7.9 billion taken out of capital
- Risk-weighted assets: up $51 billion in three months
- Core capital: up $1.5 billion, on $15.0 billion of profit for shareholders
- Book value per share: $132.30, down from $133.01 last quarter
Those figures show the cut was not only a choice. Falling bond values removed more capital than the bank spent on buybacks last quarter, and new lending raised the amount it must hold.
What to watch: the CET1 ratio at year-end. A further decline with buybacks still this small would mean capital limits, rather than preference, now decide what JPMorganChase returns to shareholders.
Corporate Lending Grew 16% and Reserves Rose
JPMorganChase is lending far more to companies and institutions, a book it calls wholesale loans. These loans reached $939 billion, 16% above last year's level. They gained another 4% in the past three months alone.
The bank added $539 million to its reserves for future loan losses, mostly for wholesale borrowers. In the unit serving companies and investors, the release cites new lending and "changes in the credit quality of certain exposures".
Actual losses do not show stress yet, because write-offs in that unit dropped to $211 million from $567 million. But the lender is growing this book quickly while chief executive Jamie Dimon himself warns of "elevated asset prices".
What to watch: the quarterly filing's detail on loans to non-bank lenders and on problem loans. Rising problem loans there would mean the reserve additions were a first sign of weaker credit, not routine growth.
Risks this quarter didn't answer
Six standing concerns got no new numbers in the press release or in the financial tables supplied with it.
- Bank capital rules: no update on the revised proposals; the final rule will set how much extra capital the bank must hold.
- Competition for deposits: consumer deposits did not grow from last quarter; a decline would show savers moving to higher-paying products.
- Chief executive succession: no timetable; a named successor or a date would settle it.
- Card rules and modified card loans: the quarterly filing will show whether balances with eased terms kept rising.
- Lawsuits: legal expense was $63 million; the filing updates the estimate of possible losses above reserves.
- Competition from private lenders: the release is silent; management's remarks on the results call are the reading.
👓 Other Themes
Dimon Adds Rising Rates to His Risk List
Chief executive Jamie Dimon said "strong business investment and ongoing consumer spending" still drive the US economy. He then listed large fiscal deficits, "sticky inflation", high asset prices and "rising interest rates" as risks. Rates matter for a bank that holds $822 billion of investment securities. Dimon said the group would "remain prepared for a wide range of outcomes".
💲 Other KPIs
Fees for managing client money rose 15% from a year ago. That is slower than the 17% or more of the prior three quarters. Assets under management reached $5.2 trillion, up 13%. Clients added a net $263 billion to the asset and wealth unit during the quarter.
The share count shrank 3% from a year ago. That is why profit per share rose 10% while net income gained 6%. The bank bought back far fewer shares this quarter, so this lift to per-share profit will fade if buybacks stay small.
The lender earned 2.48% on its interest-earning assets after funding costs, up from 2.40% last quarter. The yield had declined in each of the prior two quarters. The rate paid on interest-bearing deposits also moved up, to 2.18%, so funding is getting more expensive too.
❓ Key Questions
Do the full-year targets from three months ago still stand?
The press release and the supplied tables carry no outlook. By our math, the earlier cost target needs fourth-quarter expenses about 3% below this quarter's, while the lending-income target needs no further growth.
Which bonds did the bank sell at a loss?
JPMorganChase booked $658 million of losses on securities sales, after $395 million last quarter. Investors need to know how much of the portfolio it replaced and how much extra interest the new bonds will earn.
Why are modified card loans rising while write-offs fall?
Balances of card loans with eased terms roughly doubled in the year to June. Easing terms can delay write-offs, so the 2.91% loss rate needs this number beside it.
How much new corporate lending went to non-bank lenders?
Wholesale loans grew $132 billion in a year. The release does not split that growth between companies, private-credit funds and other financial firms, which carry different risks.
What will the Apple Card deal cost before it closes?
Chase takes over as issuer of Apple Card around late 2027. The bank has not updated the expected size of the portfolio or said what the integration costs each quarter.