JPMorgan's Q1 earnings smash estimates amid big beats in stock-trading and investment-banking revenue

• JPMorgan turned in a strong first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday that saw both stock- and bond-trading revenues beat expectations.
• Investment banking revenue also came in higher than forecast.
• The bank released $5.2 billion in credit reserves, contrasting with its $6.8 billion addition a year ago.

JPMorgan, the top US bank by assets, reported first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, beating consensus estimates of analysts polled by Bloomberg on strong trading revenue.

The firm reported first-quarter profit of $14.3 billion, or $4.50 per share, handily exceeding the consensus analyst forecast of $3.13. Revenue came in at $33.1 billion, exceeding forecasts that predicted $30.4.

The profit figure reflects "strong underlying performance across our businesses, partially driven by a rapidly improving economy," CEO Jamie Dimon said in a statement.

He continued: "With all of the stimulus spending, potential infrastructure spending, continued Quantitative Easing, strong consumer and business balance sheets and euphoria around the potential end of the pandemic, we believe that the economy has the potential to have extremely robust, multi-year growth."

Here are the key numbers:

• Net income: $14.3 billion versus $9 billion estimated
• Earnings per share: $4.50 versus $3.13 estimated
• Revenue: $33.1 billion versus $30.4 billion estimated

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JPMorgan's fixed-income-trading operation generated $5.8 billion in revenue, beating estimates by more than $800 million. Its equity-trading unit spiked 47% to $3.3 billion, roughly $1 billion higher than forecasts.

Investment-banking revenue was also strong, coming in at $2.9 billion, above the estimated $2.65 billion. Its robust performance was fuelled by a surge in deal-making as the bank advised on 126 deals worth about $208 billion in the first-quarter, according to GlobalData.

The firm also said it released $5.2 billion in loan-loss reserves in the first quarter. Last quarter, the bank released $2.9 billion in reserves.

The bank had set aside reserves of $26 billion in anticipation of a wave of loan defaults amid the coronavirus pandemic. Dimon said he believed the amount is "appropriate and prudent, all things considered."

JPMorgan shares slid 0.4% as of 8:15 a.m. ET in New York. The stock is up more than 21% year-to-date.