What Big Bank CEOs Are Saying About The Economy

Key Takeaways

• Executives at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan said consumers and businesses have shown resilience in the face of stubborn inflation and rising rates.

• Investors will get more results and comments from executives at other banks later this week.

Executives at some of the country's biggest banks still see a lot to like about the economy, despite worries about stubborn inflation and rising rates as the war in Iran drags on.

"While economic uncertainty exists and consumer sentiment remains mixed, our data shows that our consumer and business customers are doing well," Wells Fargo (WFC) CEO Charlie Scharf said in Tuesday's earnings release. "Consumers are spending more, loan delinquencies are low, and deposit and investment balances have grown."

"While higher interest rates, higher oil prices and persistent inflation create risks to the economy, strong positive forces such as the investment in AI infrastructure, high employment levels and consistent wage growth continue to outweigh the risks," said Scharf.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon warned that could change, however, as "large fiscal deficits, sticky inflation, elevated asset prices, rising interest rates and geopolitical conditions continue to shift under the surface."

CFO Jeremy Barnum said in Tuesday's call that consumers have proved "quite resilient in the face of a number of headwinds that, under different circumstances, you might have expected would present a challenge," and attributed the strength largely to a solid labor market.

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs (GS) shares were up less than 1% in recent trading, while Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo shares slid about 2%. Investors will get more results and comments from other financial executives later this week , with Bank of America (BAC), Morgan Stanley (MS), and BlackRock (BLK) set to report tomorrow.

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