Should You Buy JPMorgan Chase While It's Below $270?
It isn't easy to get enthusiastic about a stock just after it reaches its all-time high. This has been the case recently with U.S. megabank JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), which reached such a peak in mid-February but has generally been sliding since.
Price isn't everything, of course, and the big lender has a lot going for it as an investment. Here's my take on its chances of climbing back up to, or even surmounting, that historically hefty price.
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Second to none
JPMorgan Chase happens to be the No. 1 bank in the country by several measures, easily topping the rest of the three other big lenders (Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo). Its assets totaled more than $4 trillion (distant second place belonged to BofA's $3.26 trillion), its latest quarterly revenue was nearly $43 billion, and market cap was more than $720 billion.
JPMorgan Chase knows how to leverage its size, reach, and power to keep producing impressive fundamentals.
Presaging the record share price it would notch the following month, in January the bank set all-time highs for annual revenue and net income, at more than $177 billion and $58 billion, respectively, in 2024. Both grew at double-digit percentage rates from the 2023 numbers, specifically 12% for revenue and 18% for profitability.
The bank managed these feats in no small part because of top-line increases in all three of its main divisions. Its core consumer and community banking unit was up 2% over 2023, while the commercial and investment bank and asset and wealth management segments both improved at a brisk 9% pace.
Basically if there's money to be made in any corner of American finance, JPMorgan Chase is happy and eager to make it. For example, it was (once again) No. 1 in a crucial means of payment. According to data from Nilson Report cited in recent research by The Motley Fool, the company was the top credit card issuer in terms of total purchase volume at $1.2 trillion in 2023.
Anchored by a famous brand
Some might consider brick-and-mortar physical business locations to be old-fashioned (or even obsolete), but branding and presence still matter in the banking business.
The JPMorgan Chase operation most familiar to the public, Chase Bank, is (it should go nearly without saying by now) No. 1 in terms of geographic reach, too. According to Statista, in 2024 the bank had 5,110 outlets in the country, well ahead of No. 2 with 4,349 (Wells Fargo, if you're curious).
What helps is longevity and familiarity; through booms and busts, depressions and financial crises, the Chase brand has endured since 1877. Any financial institution that lasts so long garners both familiarity and trust. If you stash your money with Chase, it will still be there whenever you feel like coming back for it.
That alone is a draw for all types of customers, be they individual or corporate. Mixed with the company's very wide range of products and services, in the eyes of many JPMorgan Chase is a trusted provider of any significant financial product they might want or require.
So ultimately I think that, as long as the U.S. economy continues to chug along, JPMorgan Chase will continue to do well. Analysts are modeling comparatively modest growth next year from 2025, with average estimated revenue growth of a bit less than 4% and per-share earnings improvement of nearly 7%.
I feel those pundits might be underestimating the lender's ability to make a buck (and to top estimates, which it does frequently). This is a powerhouse of a bank, and I'd go as far as to say one of the best. I can easily imagine its price rising to more than $270, and ultimately notching new all-time highs.
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JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Citigroup is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
