America’s 6 Largest Banks Report $31 Billion in Revenue

America’s biggest banks apparently have Donald Trump to thank for a successful quarter.

Banking giants are set to report a $31 billion profit in the final three months of last year, due to a surge in trading and dealmaking after the US presidential election, the Financial Times (FT) reported Monday (Jan. 13).

According to the report, the income for the six largest US banks in terms of assets – JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley – is expected to increase 16% compared to the end of quarter of 2023.

That’s after excluding the nearly $10 billion banks are making in federal deposit insurance funds near the end of 2023 to cover the cost of collapse of three regional banks earlier in the year, the report said, citing data from Bloomberg.

“It was a very strong end of the year for the capital markets,” he said Scott Siefersa banking analyst at Piper Sandler.

“As it relates to (profit) margins, we are in a Goldilocks situation, where banks benefit from higher rates at the high end of the curve, but are able to take deposit costs down Fed (cut).”

The report said that investors hope that reduced taxes and relaxed regulations under the second Trump administration will boost loan growth in the banking sector. They also rely on the continued increase in advisory fees in the banks’ largest investment offices, such as mergers and acquisitions. receive lighter scrutiny.

Reducing regulatory requirements for banks themselves may give them the ability to take on more risk or increase shareholder payouts through buybacks or dividends, both of which could boost investor returns.

At the same time, the FT said, bank analysts warned that Trump policies such as tariffs could push up inflation and leave short-term rates higher than planned months ago. As PYMNTS wrote late last year, this year seems to be “like a wild card” when it comes to questions about financial regulations.

“The administration of President-elect Donald Trump appears to be following a course of deregulation, and there are speculations that entire regulatory bodies may be shut downwhich in fact will be a radical shift,” said the report.

“In the meantime, however, the underlying issues remain, and chief among them is the assessment of the risks and rewards involved in bank-FinTech partnershipcybersecurity, capital requirements and innovation.”