For some big banks, they're dialing up hiring in 2019 - but, in Q3, this wasn't the case for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM).
JPMorgan Chase job postings slid more than 9% over the course of the third quarter - coming as other banks, like Citigroup (NYSE:C), or Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), have increased postings in 2019.
Still, analysts are bullish: RBC Capital Markets analysts wrote, in a report dates Sept. 30, that "the company is well-capitalized" and that JPMorgan's "balance sheet is stronger today than in the financial crisis, and best-in-class." Boosting up FY19 guidance, and down for FY20, is a sign that interest rates that return to lower for longer could come back to bite the bank.
But that doesn't seem to faze them: "We could see the stock trade above our current price target of $120 [per share]."
Our next chart zooms out a bit. Through it, we can see an annual, cyclical pattern. At, or usually on, the last day of the year is when the bank hits its annual low for job postings, and the trend is that JPMorgan Chase will add thousands of more job postings until around mid-year when they begin to decline again. A close look at the chart shows that, in each of the last three years, JPMorgan Chase's "peak" job postings number got smaller and smaller.
Last but not least, the good news: JPMorgan Chase employees are among the happiest at any Wall Street bank. Thinknum recently published, in partnership with our friends at Dealbreaker, an assessment of how big banks' staffers evaluated leadership and work culture in the Indeed.com workplace Overall Rating anonymous poll tool. And, at more than 3.9 out of 5, JPMorgan Chase took the top spot, beating banks like Citigroup and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).
Analysts tracked by Zacks Investment Research are looking for EPS $2.34 when the bank announces results on October 15. So far this year, JPMorgan Chase stock is up about 18%.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.