JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Says Bank Is Preparing for 'a Wide Range of Scenarios' as Economy Faces 'Considerable Turbulence' JPMorgan reported its first quarter results on Friday.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- JPMorgan Chase reported solid first-quarter results on Friday that beat expectations.
- JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon cautioned in an earnings release that the economy was facing uncertainty due to tariffs and trade wars.
JPMorgan Chase reported better-than-expected first-quarter results on Friday. While CEO Jamie Dimon acknowledged that the bank's financial results were "strong," he also warned that the bank was preparing for "turbulence" in the U.S. economy.
JPMorgan's first-quarter 2025 revenue was $46.01 billion, higher than analyst expectations of $44.11 billion and an 8% yearly increase. The bank also stated that first-quarter profit increased by about 9% year-over-year to $14.64 billion.
Dimon, 69, wrote in an earnings release that JPMorgan added 500,000 new checking accounts in the quarter and saw revenue in the markets division rise to $9.7 billion, marking "an exceptionally strong quarter."
However, Dimon cautioned that uncertain economic conditions were ahead. He said that potential deregulation, tax cuts, inflation, high fiscal deficits, and tariffs could affect the economy and that JPMorgan is preparing for as many outcomes as possible.
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"The economy is facing considerable turbulence (including geopolitics), with the potential positives of tax reform and deregulation and the potential negatives of tariffs and 'trade wars,' ongoing sticky inflation, high fiscal deficits and still rather high asset prices and volatility," he wrote in the earnings release. "As always, we hope for the best but prepare the Firm for a wide range of scenarios."'
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images
Some of the economic issues Dimon listed have seen new updates this week. On tax reform, a bill supported by President Donald Trump that seeks to reduce taxes by approximately $5 trillion passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. Trump has also promoted deregulation, signing an executive order on Wednesday asking federal agency heads to compile a list of anti-competitive regulations to eliminate.
On tariffs, Trump levied duties of 145% on China this week. The move sparked a tit-for-tat trade war and retaliation from China, which raised tariffs on the U.S. to 125% on Friday.
"It's totally reasonable to say we want to make trade better," Dimon told Fox Business earlier this week when asked what he thought about tariffs. "But I also want to say to the Americans, we have the best economy in the world."
Dimon pointed to the size of the U.S. GDP. According to World Bank data, the U.S. GDP was $27.72 trillion in 2023, higher than China's GDP of $17.79 trillion in the same year.
JPMorgan is the largest bank in the U.S. with total assets of about $3.5 trillion.
