JPMorgan CEO sees expenses climbing; eyes up to $20 billion M&A opportunity

By Nupur Anand and Manya Saini

NEW YORK, May 27 (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase’s expenses for this year could be $1 billion higher than earlier estimates, which could potentially crimp its profitability, CEO Jamie Dimon said on Wednesday.

The bank raised its full-year 2026 expense forecast to about $106 billion from $105 billion earlier, citing stronger business performance.

Its shares were last down nearly 3% in morning trading.

Stephan Biggar at Argus Research said any increase in expenses worried the market. The bank has also been warning that its earnings are unlikely to stay at such elevated levels for long and it could go down, which could also cause a pause in the market, Biggar added.

JPMorgan has been consistently performing well and analysts believe markets expect that to continue, so any outlook on the bank’s margins getting constrained comes under close scrutiny.

Dimon reiterated the bank’s interest in looking for a potential merger and acquisition opportunity.

“Looking at acquisitions is important and I do think there might be opportunities and so we are on the lookout,” he said.

“I do think there might be in the next couple of years a chance to put $10-$20 billion to buying something.”

The CEO of the largest U.S. lender did not specify the potential areas of interest but analysts believe it is possible that the bank could look at opportunities within fintech or artificial intelligence.

Several large banks have signaled openness to strengthening their competitive positions through acquisitions, expanding technology capabilities and gaining scale in fast-growing areas such as wealth management and payments.

JPMorgan Chase has completed several large acquisitions over the years and successfully integrated those businesses. Most notably, in 2023, it agreed to buy First Republic Bank in a deal that resolved the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis.

HIGHER INVESTMENT BANKING AND TRADING REVENUES

JPMorgan Chase’s investment banking fees could rise 10% or more in the second quarter, Dimon told an investor conference on Wednesday, adding that a lot of “big deals” were being discussed.

Dealmaking on Wall Street has regained momentum in 2026 as corporate confidence remains steady amid a resilient U.S. economy, easing financing conditions and rising boardroom appetite for acquisitions and large capital raises.

Though the conflict in the Middle East and market turmoil driven by concerns that AI could disrupt legacy software businesses injected some caution earlier this year, top banking executives have continued to point to healthy deal pipelines and strong client engagement.

“ECM (Equity Capital Markets) is going to be huge this year,” Dimon said at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York. “I think sponsors are busy. Companies are busy. There’s a lot of exuberance out there.”

The bank’s markets business, which includes its trading operations, is also on track to grow 11% in the current quarter and could perform “a little better” than that forecast, he added.

(Reporting by Nupur Anand in New York and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed, Franklin Paul and Nia Williams)