Banking, finance, and taxes

What to Expect When JPMorgan and Wells Fargo Report Tuesday

Chris Lange

Published: April 13, 2020 11:50 am

Last Updated: April 13, 2020 11:51 am

Earnings season is just around the corner. In fact, it kicks off Tuesday, when a couple major banks report before the opening bell. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) are two of the biggest banks in the country, and perhaps they can give some insight into what to expect for the rest of the season.

[in-text-ad]

JPMorgan

Analysts are calling for $1.84 in earnings per share (EPS) and $29.67 billion in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had $2.65 in EPS and $28.44 billion in revenue.

JPMorgan’s tangible book value per share was $60.98 at the end of 2019 and $60.48 in the prior quarter.

Here’s what a few analysts are saying about JPMorgan ahead of the report:

• RBC reiterated a Buy rating with a $99 price target.
• UBS’s Neutral rating comes with an $82 price target.
• Piper Sandler rates it as Overweight with a $115 price target.
• Deutsche Bank has a Neutral rating with a $105 target price.
• Wells Fargo has an Overweight rating with a $125 price target.
• Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating and a $109 price target.

Excluding Monday’s move, JPMorgan stock has underperformed the broad markets with a retreat of about 26% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the share price is down closer to 2.5%.

JPMorgan stock traded down nearly 4% to $98.86 Monday morning, in a 52-week range of $76.91 to $141.10. The consensus price target is $107.31.

Wells Fargo

The consensus estimates are $0.36 in EPS and $19.35 billion in revenue. In the first quarter of last year, the company said it had $1.20 in EPS and $21.61 billion in revenue.

Wells Fargo is still under stronger scrutiny than the other major banks due to its account opening scandals and other operational flaws in recent years. The bank now screens at about 0.7 times book value, but with a cap on growing assets, it is in a different classification that when this was considered to rival JPMorgan as the safest bank in America.

A few analysts weighed in on Wells Fargo prior to the report:

• Nomura has a Buy rating with a $31 price target.
• UBS rates it as Neutral with a $21 target price.
• Deutsche Bank’s Hold rating comes with a $34 price target.
• Citigroup has a Neutral rating and a $37 price target.
• Berenberg has a Hold rating with a $26 price target.

Overall, Wells Fargo stock has underperformed the broad markets with a pullback of about 38% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the share price is down 30.5%.

Wells Fargo stock was trading down about 4% at $31.82. The 52-week range is $25.11 to $54.75, and the consensus price target is $34.62.