JPMorgan Chase profit hits $16.9 billion in the second quarter, boosted again by market volatility

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WASHINGTON (AP) — JPMorgan Chase said Tuesday that it logged $16.9 billion in second-quarter profit as its equities trading division again took advantage of market volatility triggered by the war in Iran .

The nation's largest bank by asset size, JPMorgan said that revenue in every line of its business hit record levels in the quarter, including its markets division, where revenue grew 35% over the same period last year. Revenue in its equity markets division skyrocketed 86%.

JPMorgan earned $6.14 per share in the period, beating analyst estimates of $5.59 per share and 2025's $5.24. Managed revenue came in at $58 billion, also topping the estimates of analysts surveyed by FactSet.

CEO Jamie Dimon said that revenue from the New York bank's investment banking division rose 30%, accelerating to the highest level since 2021 as the thirst for initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions remained strong.

According to investment research analysts, both merger and acquisitions and initial public offerings are expected to continue at a blistering pace through 2026.

Global M&A activity accelerated in the second quarter of 2026, with announcements up 64% year-over-year and closings up 33%, according to Morgan Stanley. It was the sixth straight quarter that the volume of deals grew on a year-over-year basis.

The jump in M&A volumes were driven by deals of $10 billion or more, which accounted for 43% of the quarter's announced volumes, the most in more than six years, Morgan Stanley said. The bank's research arm forecast that 2026 global M&A announcements will reach $6.4 trillion, topping 2021's $6.1 trillion.

The story was similar in the IPO market, where 48 IPOs raised a quarterly record of nearly $105 billion, according to Renaissance Capital. The bulk of the proceeds came from SpaceX's offering, which brought in $75 billion, more than all U.S. IPOs combined in 2024 and 2025, Renaissance said.

Renaissance expects the IPO market to extend its hot streak into the second half of this year, also driven by larger deals such as Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix's "mega-listing" on Friday that raised $26.5 billion.

Markets have been swinging wildly up and down since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February, with military strikes from both sides interspersed with pauses in fighting and vague temporary truces.

Investors' concerns that the war will last a long time has triggered high volumes of selling in financial markets, while hopes for a resolution and a freer flow of crude oil has inspired optimism and buying.

Though volatile markets can cause anxiety for individual investors, high-speed Wall Street trading desks can take advantage of the wild gyrations. Big swings in markets tend to increase activity on trading desks, leading to higher commissions and fee revenue for the banks.

Wells Fargo also reported its second-quarter results on Tuesday, posting a 22% jump in net income over the same period last year. Wells said it earned $6.4 billion in the period, or $2 per share, up from $5.5 billion a year ago. Revenue of $22.6 billion also topped estimates.

Wells CEO Charlie Scharf said the San Francisco bank was benefiting from a strong economy and its newly unleashed ability to invest after years of government oversight. Wells' said its investment banking revenue grew 20% from last year and markets revenue was up 24%.

"After years of not being on a level playing field with our competitors because we couldn't grow our balance sheet, we are carefully deploying capital to grow and support our clients by taking risks that we think are prudent through economic cycles, not just the strong environment we see today," Scharf said.

New York investment bank Goldman Sachs and commercial banking giant Bank of America also posted strong second quarter results, both beating Wall Street expectations.