The biggest US banks reported higher third quarter profits on October 13, 2026. JPMorgan Chase earned $15.3 billion, Goldman Sachs $5.29 billion, Citigroup $5.2 billion and Wells Fargo about $6.0 billion, with trading desks and investment banking fees strong across the group. Each topped the average analyst estimate.

JPMorgan: $15.3 billion and a 20% return

JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank, reported net income of $15.3 billion, or $5.57 per diluted share, on $50.2 billion of reported net revenue, $50.9 billion on a managed basis. Excluding $658 million of net investment securities losses, profit was $15.8 billion, or $5.75 a share. Return on tangible common equity, the headline profitability gauge, was 20%, or 21% excluding that item. The bank set aside $2.7 billion for credit losses in the quarter.

"The Firm reported another quarter of strong results, generating net income of $15.8 billion and an ROTCE of 21%," chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon said in the earnings release.

Goldman Sachs: trading and dealmaking power the quarter

Goldman Sachs posted net revenues of $18.68 billion and net earnings of $5.29 billion, with diluted earnings of $17.01 a share and an annualized return on equity of 18.7%. Revenue was 23% higher than the same quarter of 2025, though 8% below an unusually strong second quarter. Book value per share rose 1.4% during the quarter to $372.64.

The pattern at Goldman was the quarter's story in miniature: capital markets revenue, from trading and from advising on deals, did the heavy lifting, while the comparison with the record second quarter kept the sequential numbers in check.

Citigroup: profit up on an 8% revenue gain

Citigroup reported net income of $5.2 billion, or $2.85 per diluted share, on revenue of $23.8 billion, up 8% from a year earlier. The bank ended the quarter with a Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 12.8% and book value per share of $115.61, and it returned $4.1 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends. Higher credit loss provisions partly offset the revenue gains.

Chief executive Jane Fraser said the results reflect "the continued disciplined and consistent execution of our strategy."

Wells Fargo: $6.0 billion and a $2.5 billion buyback

Wells Fargo reported net income of about $6.0 billion, or $1.87 per diluted share, on $21.87 billion of revenue, with net interest income of $12.52 billion. The bank repurchased 28.6 million shares, worth $2.5 billion, during the quarter. Chief executive Charlie Scharf said the quarter showed "broad-based growth, higher earnings, and stronger returns."

Taken together, the four releases show the split that has defined this cycle. JPMorgan and Goldman, the two with the largest Wall Street franchises, leaned on trading and investment banking, and it showed in their returns: JPMorgan's 20% return on tangible common equity and Goldman's 18.7% return on equity sit well above the cost of capital. Citigroup and Wells Fargo, more weighted toward lending and consumer banking, posted steadier revenue growth and used the quarter to keep returning capital, with Citi handing back $4.1 billion and Wells Fargo buying back $2.5 billion of its own stock. All four cleared the analyst estimates they were measured against.

What the results say about the economy

Bank earnings are a quarterly read on the wider economy. The spread between what banks pay for deposits and earn on loans, plus fees from trading and advising on deals, drives the profit line, a mechanism we cover in how banks make money. This quarter the standout was capital markets: equities trading and a recovery in mergers and acquisitions lifted the Wall Street firms, echoing the themes flagged in our preview of what to watch.

The line analysts watch for strain is the provision for credit losses, the money set aside against loans that may go bad. JPMorgan's $2.7 billion provision, and the reserve levels across the group, are the clearest signal of how lenders read the health of consumers and businesses right now. On that measure the quarter looked orderly rather than fragile, with profits rising and capital ratios comfortably above requirements.

Net interest income, the gap between what banks earn on loans and pay on deposits, remains the quiet engine underneath the trading headlines. Wells Fargo's $12.52 billion of net interest income is the kind of number that moves with the Federal Reserve's policy rate, not with deal flow, and it is why the direction of interest rates matters as much to a consumer bank as any quarter of market activity. The mix on display this quarter, booming capital markets alongside solid lending income, is about as favorable a combination as the industry gets.

Still to come

Bank of America and Morgan Stanley were scheduled to report third quarter results on October 14, completing the picture for the six largest US lenders. Their numbers will test whether the trading and dealmaking strength seen at JPMorgan and Goldman carried across the rest of Wall Street. Morgan Stanley, with its large wealth management arm, and Bank of America, the biggest US consumer bank by deposits, each tilt toward a different part of the business, so between them the two releases should show whether the quarter's gains were concentrated in capital markets or broad across the industry.

The bottom line

The third quarter confirmed a familiar pattern: trading and dealmaking are carrying the biggest banks while lending income holds steady. The things to watch from here are credit quality, the direction of loan loss provisions, and how the Federal Reserve's late-October meeting shapes the rate backdrop that sets bank margins.