Third-quarter earnings season opened Tuesday with an unusual split among the largest U.S. banks: JPMorgan Chase delivered a rare miss, while Goldman Sachs posted its second-best revenue quarter on record. Equity indexes barely moved as investors parsed the results and waited for September inflation data due Wednesday morning.
As of mid-morning trading, the S&P 500 stood at 7,802.99, down 4.25 points or 0.05%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 51,833.18, off 17.37 points, and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 17.45 points to 27,263.35. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped three basis points to 5.21%, and the Cboe Volatility Index held near 15.18.
JPMorgan's Rare Stumble
JPMorgan reported net income of $15.3 billion, or $5.57 per diluted share, against a Street consensus near $5.93. Revenue rose 8% from a year earlier to $50.2 billion, and profit was up 6%, but a slowdown in investment banking and $658 million in net investment securities losses weighed on the bottom line — the securities hit alone reduced earnings per share by 18 cents.
For a bank with one of the most consistent beat records on Wall Street, falling short of estimates drew outsized attention. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon struck a cautious tone on the broader backdrop, warning that "large fiscal deficits, sticky inflation, elevated asset prices, rising interest rates and geopolitical conditions continue to shift under the surface."
Goldman's Trading Engine
Goldman Sachs went the other way. The firm reported net revenues of $18.68 billion and net earnings of $5.29 billion, producing diluted earnings per common share of $17.01 and an annualized return on average common shareholders' equity of 18.7%. Profit climbed 29% year over year. Goldman described the quarter as its second-highest for quarterly net revenues and a record for year-to-date revenues.
Equities trading did the heavy lifting, generating $6.44 billion of revenue. Fixed income, currencies and commodities contributed $3.47 billion, and investment banking fees came in at $3.22 billion. Global Banking & Markets revenues totaled $13.46 billion.
Wells Fargo reported net income of $6.0 billion, or $1.87 per diluted share, narrowly ahead of the $1.85 consensus, though revenue of $21.87 billion fell roughly $442 million short of estimates. Citigroup earned $2.85 a share versus $2.73 expected, on revenue of $23.85 billion that also came in below forecasts. Taken together, the group beat on profitability and disappointed on the top line.
Memory Chips Drag, UnitedHealth Lifts the Dow
The session's other story unfolded overnight in Asia, where South Korea's Kospi fell more than 5% as memory names sold off on competitive pressure from Chinese producers. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each dropped roughly 8%, pulling regional benchmarks lower and keeping a lid on U.S. semiconductor sentiment.
Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan added to the unease, likening AI investor speculation to "a casino" and suggesting many holders do not understand what they own.
UnitedHealth provided the Dow's main support, rising about 3% after raising its 2026 profit forecast. In commodities, gold traded at roughly $4,198.60 an ounce, up 0.19%, while November West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.62% to $93.16 a barrel.
CPI Is Wednesday's Test
The September Consumer Price Index lands Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Forecasters expect headline inflation to accelerate to roughly 3.6%-3.7% year over year from 3.4%, with core CPI near 2.4% and a monthly gain of 0.2% to 0.3%. It is the final inflation reading before the Federal Open Market Committee announces its decision on Oct. 28, which makes the print the week's most consequential data point for rate expectations.
Sources: Goldman Sachs press release, "Goldman Sachs Reports 2026 Third Quarter Earnings Per Common Share of $17.01" (Oct. 13, 2026); Goldman Sachs Form 8-K via SEC EDGAR; Wells Fargo Form 8-K via SEC EDGAR; Yahoo Finance market live coverage for Oct. 13, 2026; Quartz, "JPMorgan Q3 2026 earnings miss; Goldman Sachs beats big"; MarketBeat earnings reports for Wells Fargo and Citigroup; AlphaStreet JPMorgan Q3 2026 preview (consensus estimate); Bureau of Labor Statistics release calendar.