America’s biggest banks are set to report fourth quarter results over the next two weeks and analysts are predicting mostly misfortune this earnings season. The volatility that shook the markets in 2015 has carried over into the first few weeks of 2016. Troubles in China, plummeting oil prices and increasing interest rates are expected to bring uncertainty to Wall Street’s titans. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), the biggest U.S. Bank in terms of assets, is the first bank to report this season and is expected to set the tone for other banks to follow. Following Chase are retails banks, Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC), set to report this Friday with additional reports coming from Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Bank of America (BAC) early next week. The overall expectations  remain reasonably low thanks to the challenges of low interest rates, weak capital markets, and additional loan loss reserves.

JPM data by YCharts

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) | Reports January 14, Before Markets Open

Chase(JPM) kicks off earnings season for banks when they report Q4 2015 earnings this Thursday. Despite steadily declining revenue over the course of 2015, the bank has beaten estimates each of the past 3 quarters. The Estimize consensus calls for EPS of $1.36 and revenue of $23.252 billion, slightly higher than the Wall Street consensus. Compared to Q4 2014, this represents a YoY increase in EPS and revenue of 14% and 3%, respectively.

Following the lead of the Federal Reserve, big banks have raised lending rates. Granted the interest rate hike will reflect future growth, revenue growth this past quarter has been fueled by gains in lending and credit quality. That being said, high litigation and legal expenses has eaten into Chase’s revenue. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, big banks, including JPMorgan Chase, have faced ongoing legal issues resulting in multiple billion dollar fines. On the heels of their earnings report, Goldman Sachs downgraded JPM stock to neutral from a buy rating.

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