Major players such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are expected this week to report second-quarter profit gains, a U-turn from a year ago when they were girding for a wave of Covid-19-related loan defaults.
At the same time, there are obstacles. For example, the trading businesses that thrived in the chaos of the pandemic are slowing down. JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. report results Tuesday, followed by Citigroup, Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley releases results on Thursday.
A year ago, banks were socking away billions of dollars to prepare for soured loans. But as the economic outlook has brightened, , boosting their earnings. Banks could report second-quarter per-share profits that are 40% higher than the same period a year ago, according to analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.