Give bank stock JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) credit; it definitely doesn’t let setbacks stop it. Neither do its investors; it’s up fractionally in Wednesday afternoon’s trading despite a significant setback that will blunt some of its plans for advancing into financial technology (fintech) in Europe.
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Specifically, Chase’s big move was toward landing a hefty minority stake in Viva Wallet, a Greek fintech company that doubled as one of those “challenger banks” we used to hear quite a bit about. A wholly “cloud-based Neobank,” as it describes itself, it gave users access to card acceptance services, along with a Greek banking company and an E-money institution that gave it a smooth regulatory profile. Which sounds just like the kind of thing that Chase would want in on.
However, the process of getting Viva Wallet under Chase’s purview wasn’t as easy as some expected it would be. Chase’s move to acquire a 49% stake hasn’t gone well, as Chase’s board members have resigned, and naming replacements also proved a challenge.
A Minor Hiccup
Despite this, there’s a reason JPMorgan Chase is doing well: it’s one of the biggest bank stocks in the United States. In fact, it brought in around 18% of the entire industry’s profits all by itself, with $38.9 billion in profit in the first nine months of the year. That not only beats Citigroup (NYSE:C) but also Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), and even manages to beat both of them together. Granted, the data involved in reaching that conclusion isn’t comprehensive, but it does include commercial and retail banking figures into account.
Is JPM a Buy, Hold, or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on JPM stock based on 13 Buys and five Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 31.36% rally in its share price over the past year, the average JPM price target of $178.82 per share implies 5.79% upside potential.
