Wall Street’s earnings split: Goldman’s $18.7 billion blowout quarter—and why JPMorgan and BofA fell short

For Wall Street banks reporting earnings this week, it was largely a hit—or, for two big names, a stunning miss.

Goldman Sachs gave investors exactly what they wanted, while JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America gave them reason to flinch.

JPMorgan set the tone early Tuesday morning.

For the first time in nearly three years, the nation’s largest bank by assets and market capitalization—about $888.1 billion—fell short of expectations on both profit and revenue.

JPMorgan reported $50.17 billion in net revenue, below the $51.22 billion analysts expected.

Earnings per share came in at $5.57 versus $5.90, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The company’s earnings were weighed down by a slump in fixed-income trading and higher expenses.

Fixed-income trading revenue fell 4% year over year to $5.4 billion—about $550 million below expectations.

JPMorgan’s non-interest expenses were $90 million higher than estimates as costs jumped 12% over the past year.

All in, revenue rose by only 8%, a significant decline from the 27% increase in the second quarter.

Still, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement that the bank reported “another quarter of strong results.” He did not directly address the earnings miss, but said investment banking activity “moderate[d] somewhat during the quarter.” On a call with reporters, JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum described the bank’s dealmaking pipeline as “very, very strong.” JPMorgan was not the only bank to disappoint investors, though.

Bank of America missed earnings expectations on Wednesday, snapping a six-quarter beat streak.

Profit fell 17% to $6.93 billion, or 91 cents per share, in the third quarter.

Revenue was also below analysts’ estimates by roughly $570 million.