JPMorgan Chase's Profit Falls

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) announced its results for the third quarter on October 13, 2011. Let's take a closer look at the company's industry, financials, and commentary and see what steps you can take next.

Earnings and Revenue:
JPMorgan Chase announced EPS of $1.02/share versus the 93 cents/share estimate, a 1% increase from the year-ago quarter EPS of $1.01/share. Revenue for the quarter was $24.4 billion.
With last quarter's falling profit, the company ends a run of four consecutive quarters of year-over-year profit increases.

Income:
For the year, JPMorgan Chase reported net income of $4.69/share. The company trumped analyst projections of $4.36 by 7.6%. According to the reported number, the company's income fell 2.7% from last year's levels.

Conference Call:
The conference call for third quarter earnings can be accessed here.

Official Comment:
Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "The Firm reported third-quarter net income of $4.3 billion, representing a 13% return on tangible common equity1. It is notable that these results included several significant items(*), including a $542 million pretax loss in Private Equity, $1.0 billion pretax of additional litigation expense in Corporate and a $1.9billion pretax DVA gain. The DVA gain reflects an adjustment for the widening of the Firm's credit spreads which could reverse in future periods and does not relate to the underlying operations of the company. All things considered, we believe the Firm's returns were reasonable given the current environment."

Industry:
JPMorgan Chase is in the banks-major regional industry. That industry is currently enjoying price/earnings growth of 0.9%. With its recently reported EPS, the company is trailing the industry's estimate average by 93.8%.

What to Do Next:
Now that you've gotten a round up of JPMorgan Chase's latest numbers, you can make a better-informed decision about whether to buy, sell, or hold those shares. Whatever you do, be sure to visit us before the company's next earnings release for a full preview.

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