Stock price when the opinion was issued
Is the biggest and best of the money centre banks, but trades at 2.2x book value vs. Citi's 0.7-0.8x book. Citi was punished but is under a new CEO. Citi is less exposed to international markets and that volatility. Numbers are showing positive. He likes both. But JPM is fully valued though continues to do good things. The other is a little riskier, but more potential upside.
Just reported a clean top and bottom line beat. Loan loss provisions were lower than expected. Net interest income came in light. All businesses performed well, including commercial/investment banking beat handily while wealth management was in line. They raised full-year net interest income forecast by $1 billion. The CEO did cite risks from tariffs.
(Top Pick Oct 17/16, Up 44%) Financials are a big weighting for him. There is a multiyear theme in financials ahead of us. He likes capital markets and net interest margins growing for most of the banks. The US banks are one by one starting to break out of consolidations after the election last year.