Banking, finance, and taxes

What to Watch For in JPMorgan's Q4 Report

Chris Lange

Published: January 11, 2018 1:40 pm

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:34 am

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is set to release its most recent quarterly results before the markets open on Friday. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $1.69 in earnings per share (EPS) and $25.18 billion in revenue. The fourth-quarter of last year reportedly had EPS of $1.71 and $24.33 billion in revenue.

24/7 Wall St. presented a bullish and bearish case for JPMorgan in 2018. Although JPMorgan is relatively cheap compared to the rest of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and markets in general, analysts are predicting that the stock will only break even in 2018, or return 2% including its dividend.

CEO Jamie Dimon had previously commented on bitcoin, calling it a fraud back in September. However, as bitcoin has progressed over the months, Dimon has changed his tune from knocking the blockchain-based cryptocurrency to seeing some utility in it.

Although most major banks may stand against the idea of an unregulated currency such as bitcoin, the underlying technology of blockchain could prove to be useful for online payment processing, among other transactions that banks handle.

A major highlight from JPMorgan’s most recent quarterly report was that the megabank led the nation in total U.S. deposits from businesses and consumers. With the tax reform bill passed, JPMorgan may be expecting bigger deposits in the future as businesses are expecting to save about 14% on average from this bill.

Also in the third quarter report, book value per share totaled $66.95 and tangible book value per share was $54.03.

While shares have only been trading for about a week in the New Year, JPMorgan is up about 3% so far. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is up over 27%.

A few analysts weighed in on JPMorgan prior to the release of the earnings report:

• Societe Generale has a Hold rating.
• Credit Suisse has a Buy rating with a $120 price target.
• Barclays has an Overweight rating with a $132 target.
• Buckingham Research has a Buy rating.
• Wells Fargo has a Buy rating and a $120 price target.

Shares of JPMorgan were last seen at $110.21, with a consensus analyst price target of $110.98 and a 52-week trading range of $81.64 to $110.71.