Compared to the same time last year, consolidated profit rose by a third, thanks to a further expansion in net interest margin. For a bank, this corresponds to the difference between the cost of the deposits it remunerates and the rate of the loans it grants.

The latter have been adjusting upwards as a result of the rise in key interest rates, but the former have not yet fully followed suit. In this respect, management itself says it is surprised by the inertia of its customers: their deposits have only fallen by 4% compared with the same time last year.

Compared with the period when interest rates were at rock bottom, JPMorgan therefore pocketed $7 billion more in net interest margin per quarter. In addition to this providential gain, the last three months have seen a further release of provisions set aside during the pandemic. All this more than offsets the decline in investment banking activities.

The volume of defaulted rates - $1.5 billion this quarter - remains very low, albeit up 6% on the previous quarter. The signs of a recession are not yet evident, but we are waiting to see what impact the downturn in the real estate market will have on the coming quarters.

JPMorgan is the leading US bank with $2.4 trillion in deposits. That's $500 to $600 billion more than Bank of America, and almost twice as much as Wells or Citi. It's also the most profitable after Wells stumbled in 2017 due to questionable business practices.

At ten times earnings and twice the value of its tangible equity, JPMorgan's valuation is in line with its five-year average. The bank led by Jamie Dimon has always enjoyed a premium over its peers: even at the height of the subprime crisis - from which it emerged just before the bubble burst - it was trading at x0.8 tangible equity.