Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, January 17, 2020

Article Excerpt

J.P. MORGAN CHASE & CO., $138.20, New York symbol JPM, is still a buy. The stock lets investors tap the largest banking firm in the U.S., with total assets of $2.69 trillion as of December 31, 2019. Morgan’s revenue in the final quarter of 2019 rose 8.5%, to $28.3 billion from $26.1 billion a year earlier. That beat the consensus forecast of $27.7 billion. Earnings in the quarter jumped 20.6%, to $8.52 billion from $7.07 billion. Per-share earnings gained 29.8%, to $2.57 from $1.98 on fewer shares outstanding. That, too, beat the consensus estimate of $2.35. The bank is also breaking down its earnings by division for investors: For its consumer lending division, earnings (48% of the total) rose 5.0% mainly due to higher credit card spending volumes during the holiday shopping season; earnings from Morgan’s corporate financing unit (33%) soared 48.2% as the year-earlier amount suffered from a sharp drop in fixed-income trading volumes; and earnings at the wealth management division (9%) jumped…