America’s biggest banks are reporting record profits – thanks to a roaring economy and President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.
Here’s a summary of the milestones from first quarter 2018 revenue reports:
- J.P. Morgan Chase, America’s biggest bank, reported record profits of $8.7 billion, up 35%.
- Bank of America reported record quarterly profits of $6.9 billion, up 30%, the company announced on Monday.
- Wells Fargo reported preliminary profits of $5.9 billion, up 5%. (Wells Fargo noted that their results could change pending possible monetary penalties from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency).
- Citigroup reported profits of $4.6 billion, the highest in almost three years and up 13% over last year.
- Goldman Sachs reported $2.3 billion in profits, up 26%, according to the bank’s quarterly report released Monday.
J.P Morgan, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs specifically called out the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in their quarterly report because it lowered the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%.
Bank of America noted that the tax law reduced its corporate tax rate by 9 percentage points. Goldman Sachs said its effective tax rate for the first quarter of 2018 was 17.2 percent, compared with 61.5% for all of 2017. J.P. Morgan saved some $240 million as a result of Trump’s tax cut.
“The global economy continues to do well, and we remain optimistic about the positive impact of tax reform in the U.S. as business sentiment remains upbeat, and consumers benefit from job and wage growth,” J.P. Morgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said after the release of the earnings report.
