Top U.S. banks smash profit estimates on rebounding economy

A view of the exterior of the JP Morgan Chase & Co. corporate headquarters in New York City May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar

WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) – The four largest U.S. consumer banks posted blockbuster second-quarter results this week, after pandemic loan losses failed to materialize and the U.S. economy began roaring back to life.

Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) posted a combined $33 billion in profits, buoyed by the release of reserves they had put aside last year to absorb feared pandemic losses.

That was beyond analyst estimates of about $24 billion combined, compared with $6 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Consumer spending has climbed, sometimes beyond pre-pandemic levels, while credit quality has improved and savings and investments have risen, the banks said.

Thanks to extraordinary government stimulus and loan repayment holidays, feared losses have not…

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