JP Morgan Chase & Co. is the world’s most valuable bank by market capitalization, at $570 billion at the time of writing. The bank’s history spans several centuries, bearing the name of the legendary banker J. Pierpont Morgan, among others. The bank in its current form was essentially created through mergers around the turn of the millennium, when Jamie Dimon, who still serves as CEO at the time of writing, took the helm.
In the 21st century, the bank has developed favorably. Earnings per share have grown by over 11% annually, from $2.35 to $16.23.
The bank’s key profitability metric, the return on tangible equity, has consistently been at an excellent level of over 20%. Unlike many other banks, JP Morgan was able to maintain reasonable profitability even in the years following the financial crisis.
Compared to key peers, cost efficiency and revenues are better:
Equity and the stock have also developed favorably during Dimon’s tenure.
The quality demonstrated by the bank’s figures so far is also reflected in its valuation. With the stock currently around $200, the bank is valued at 2.3 times its book value.
I wanted to open this thread because this is one of the world’s best major banks (in light of current information; banks are notoriously a bit unpredictable in the end). It’s always worth reading CEO Jamie Dimon’s insights. He comments extensively on the economy, geopolitics, AI: anything that concerns a global major bank, its owners, and customers.
More information can be found, for example, in the 2023 investor letter.
