Banking News: JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) Analysis, Bank of America Corp (BAC) Is Still In Focus

Editor’s Note: Related tickers: JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC)

JPMorgan Chase fails to impress Wall Street (CNNMoney)
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) reported better-than-expected first quarter profits Friday, despite what the bank described as soft loan growth. Investors weren’t pleased with the results though. Shares of the bank were trading lower. Why was the market not impressed? If you dig deeper into the bank’s profits, you’ll find that $1.15 billion of the bank’s $6.5 billion in net income came from releasing funds set aside to offset potential losses from faulty mortgage and credit card loans. Investors typically don’t like those types of profits since they are not a true indication of demand for the bank’s services.

Credit: JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

Wells Fargo beats expectations even as home lending slows (CNN)
The Wells Fargo wagon may be in for some bumps ahead. On Friday, the nation’s third-largest bank reported that its earnings had come in better than expected. Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) earned $5.2 billion in the first three months of the year, up 22% from same quarter a year ago. That translated to per-share earnings of $0.92. Analysts had predicted $0.88. That profit growth was less than at rival JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), which also reported earnings on Friday morning. JPMorgan’s bottom line rose by 33% in the first quarter from a year ago.

Pennsylvania sells $950M in bonds to Bank of America (Central Penn Business Journal)
Pennsylvania has completed the sale of $950 million in general obligation bonds, Budget Secretary Charles Zogby said this morning. Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) outbid five other companies for the bonds, offering an interest rate of 2.904 percent, the lowest Pennsylvania has ever obtained, Zogby said in a statement.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): Three Quotes From The Conference Call (Insider Monkey)
The nation’s largest bank by assets, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), reported earnings for the first quarter of the year this morning. It was a strong performance by almost any measure. Net income was up by 33% on a year-over-year basis, mortgage originations soared, and the bank socked away more capital for a rainy day. What follows are some of the more notable quotes and exchanges from the bank’s conference call with analysts.

Wells Fargo to Appeal Defeat of Mortgage Suit Challenge (Bloomberg)
Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) has said it can’t be sued by the U.S. attorney in New York under the False Claims Act because it had already reached an agreement with the government that was approved last April. The San Francisco-based bank today filed a notice of appeal of a Feb. 12 decision by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer in Washington that a $25 billion agreement Wells and four other banks made with the Justice Department in April 2012 didn’t release it from facing the false-claims allegations in the New York case filed in October.

Bank of America Corp (BAC): Five Things That Could Hobble It (Insider Monkey)
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is a favorite among Foolish investors, and not without good reason. The bank performed like a thoroughbred in 2012, returning share-price gains of better than 100% for the calendar year. But as far as…

…the superbank has come since the financial crisis, it still has a long way to go before it returns to normalcy: stable, profitable, and a place where investor money is not only safe, but put to good use. Here are five things that could still hobble Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), stopping that return to normalcy from happening, or considerably slowing it down.

JPMorgan Shrinks Compensation Pool 7% at Investment-Bank Unit (Bloomberg)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s corporate and investment bank set aside 7 percent less money for employee compensation in the first quarter while the division generated 9 percent more revenue. The unit’s $3.38 billion in compensation costs amounted to 34 percent of revenue, excluding accounting adjustments, down from 35 percent a year earlier, according to figures posted today on the New York-based firm’s website. The pay pool is large enough to give each of the division’s 51,634 employees $65,383 for the three months.

Wells Chief Takes Swipe at ‘Too Big Too Fail’ Critiques (Wall Street Journal)
Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) Chairman and Chief Executive John Stumpf took a shot at the notion of too-big-to-fail while discussing the lender’s earnings and said big banks such as Wells Fargo are positioned to help the U.S. economy grow. “All banks add value, and big banks have unique resources and capabilities to help the economy,” Mr. Stumpf said during a conference call following the bank’s first-quarter earnings report Friday. “Some claim that we receive a subsidy or have an unfair advantage from being perceived as too big to fail. We disagree.”

Forbes Earnings Preview: Bank Of America (Forbes)
Analysts expect decreased profit for Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) when the company reports its first quarter results on Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Although Bank Of America reported profit of 31 cents a year ago, the consensus estimate calls for earnings per share of 23 cents.

JPMorgan Analysts Say Big Investment Banks Are ‘Uninvestable’ (Bloomberg)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), the largest U.S. bank by assets and the top investment bank by fees, is questioning the so-called universal bank model’s future. Top-tier investment banks are “uninvestable at this point with a risk of spinoff from universal banks,” JPMorgan analysts led by London-based Kian Abouhossein wrote in a research note today. They cited potential rule changes and curbs on capital and funding. Investors should avoid Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), once the world’s most profitable securities firm, and Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Germany’s largest bank, because of pressure on earnings and the unknown impact of new regulations, according to the report.