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By Valuentum Analysts
JPMorgan’s (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon:
The Firm concluded the year with a strong fourth quarter, generating net income of $14.7 billion excluding a significant item.
Each line of business performed well. In the CIB, revenue rose 10%. Markets continued to benefit from demand for financing and robust client activity, pushing revenue up 17%. Additionally, Payments revenue reached a record $5.1 billion due to ongoing deposit and fee growth. In CCB, revenue rose 6%, and the franchise continued to acquire new customers at a robust pace. This year, we opened 1.7 million net new checking accounts and 10.4 million new credit card accounts, and we also grew wealth management households to over 3 million. Looking ahead, we are excited to become the new issuer of the Apple Card. Finally, in AWM, revenue rose 13% in the quarter to a record $6.5 billion. More impressively, client asset net inflows totaled $553 billion for the year, helping drive client assets to over $7 trillion.
These results were the product of strong execution, years of investment, a favorable market backdrop and selective deployment of excess capital. Looking ahead, we remain committed to investing our capital to drive future growth, and the Apple Card is one example of patient and thoughtful deployment of our excess capital into attractive opportunities.”
The U.S. economy has remained resilient. While labor markets have softened, conditions do not appear to be worsening. Meanwhile, consumers continue to spend, and businesses generally remain healthy. These conditions could persist for some time, particularly with ongoing fiscal stimulus, the benefits of deregulation and the Fed’s recent monetary policy. However, as usual, we remain vigilant, and markets seem to underappreciate the potential hazards—including from complex geopolitical conditions, the risk of sticky inflation and elevated asset prices.
I want to reiterate how proud I am of our employees across the globe and how they work to support our customers and communities every single day.
Wells Fargo’s (WFC) CEO Charlie Scharf:
Strong financial performance, removal of the asset cap imposed by the Federal Reserve, termination of multiple consent orders, and stronger growth in both our consumer and commercial businesses make me proud of our 2025 results.
We achieved our prior ROTCE target of 15% and have set a new medium-term target of 17-18%. As compared to full year 2024, diluted earnings per share grew 17%, fee-based income grew 5%, credit performance was strong as net charge-offs declined by 16%, and expenses grew less than 1%. We continued to operate with significant excess capital while returning $23 billion to shareholders through $18 billion in common stock repurchases and increasing our dividend per common share by 13% in 2025.
We have worked hard to balance short-term performance and investing for long-term success. We have funded significant increased investments in infrastructure and business growth by driving greater savings from efficiencies across the company. Over the past 5 years, gross expense reductions of $15 billion have allowed us to make these investments while reducing the total expense base.
Evidence of increased growth can be seen across the company. In our consumer businesses, credit card continues to see strong increases in spend and new accounts grew over 20% from a year ago. Auto lending returned to growth with balances up 19% from the prior year. Net checking account growth was stronger and deposits and investment balances in our affluent offering – Wells Fargo Premier® – grew 14% from the prior year. Advisory fees in our Wealth and Investment Management business grew 8%. In our commercial businesses, loans grew 12%. Investment banking fees increased 14%. We grew investment banking market share and our M&A ranking increased from 12 to 8.
We have built a strong foundation and have made great progress in improving growth and returns though we have operated with significant constraints. We are excited to now compete on a level playing field and are able to dedicate even more resources to growth with the ability to grow our balance sheet. The dedication and hard work of all those at Wells Fargo has positioned us to enter 2026 in a position of strength and we are excited by the momentum we have and opportunities in front of us.
Morgan Stanley’s (MS) CEO Ted Pick:
Morgan Stanley delivered outstanding performance in 2025. The Firm produced full-year revenues of $70.6 billion, EPS of $10.21 and a ROTCE of 21.6%. Our performance reflects multi-year investments which have contributed to growth and momentum across the Integrated Firm. Total client assets in Wealth and Investment Management grew to $9.3 trillion, supported by over $350 billion in net new assets. Our Institutional Securities business served as a trusted advisor to clients as investment banking activity accelerated and global markets remained strong. The four pillars of the Integrated Firm – Strategy, Culture, Financial Strength and Growth – support our ability to drive long-term value for shareholders.
Goldman Sachs’ (GS) CEO David Soloman:
Since our first Investor Day where we laid out our comprehensive strategy, the firm has grown its revenues by 60%, improved returns by 500 basis points and delivered total shareholder returns of more than 340%. We continue to see high levels of client engagement across our franchise and expect momentum to accelerate in 2026, activating a flywheel of activity across our entire firm. While there are meaningful opportunities to deploy capital across our franchise and to return capital to shareholders, our unwavering focus remains on maintaining a disciplined risk management framework and robust standards.
Bank of America’s (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan and CFO Alastair Borthwick:
Bank of America’s fourth quarter results capped off a strong year of earnings as we delivered more than $30 billion in net income and EPS grew 19% over 2024. And with solid revenue growth, positive operating leverage and a lower efficiency ratio, we improved returns year-over-year for both the full year and the quarter. With consumers and businesses proving resilient, as well as the regulatory environment and tax and trade policies coming into sharper focus, we expect further economic growth in the year ahead. While any number of risks continue, we are bullish on the U.S. economy in 2026. I want to thank our teammates for their hard work this year. With their dedication and the economy positioned for growth, we feel confident in our ability to maintain this momentum in 2026 and beyond.
In 2025, ending deposits topped $2 trillion, and average loans grew 8% year-over-year, as we managed our balance sheet efficiently, returning 41% more capital to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases than in 2024. As we grew organically, the company also benefited from fixed-rate asset repricing and disciplined expense management, with our fourth quarter efficiency ratio improving nearly 200 bps from last year. With strong liquidity and capital, as well as healthy asset quality, we enter 2026 focused on driving core growth, market share gains and improved profitability.
Citigroup’s (C) CEO Jane Fraser:
With record revenues and positive operating leverage for each of our five businesses, 2025 was a year of significant progress as we demonstrated that the investments we are making are driving strong topline growth. Growth in Services was fueled by deeper client relationships and new client mandates; Markets maintained its top 3 position and improved its returns; Banking played a key role in many of the year’s major transactions; Wealth delivered strong results and launched several significant partnerships; and USPB doubled its returns through a focus on customer engagement and new, innovative products.
We returned over $17 billion of capital to our shareholders – the most since the pandemic – including $13 billion through share buybacks. We ended the year with a CET1 Ratio of 13.2%, which is 160 basis points above our regulatory requirement. We have ample capital to support our growth while continuing to return excess capital to our shareholders.
We enter 2026 with visible momentum across the firm and are committed to reaching our target of 10-11% RoTCE for the year and positioning Citi for improved returns above that level in the years ahead.
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Brian Nelson owns shares in SPY, SCHG, QQQ, QQQM, DIA, VOT, RSP, and IWM. Valuentum owns SPY, SCHG, QQQ, QQQM, VOO, and DIA. Brian Nelson’s household owns shares in HON, DIS, HAS, NKE, DIA, RSP, SCHG, QQQ, QQQM, and VOO. Some of the other securities written about in this article may be included in Valuentum’s simulated newsletter portfolios. Contact Valuentum for more information about its editorial policies.
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