Bank Earnings Day #1 Recap: Not the Reaction We Were Hoping For

Big bank and broker shares closed down about 2% following mixed first-day earnings results, with the backdrop still holding up despite rising uncertainty in 3Q. The report's top 10 takeaways cover: alternative managers pressured by higher rates, sluggish sponsor exits and Goldman's debt write-downs; Citigroup's solid print but softer trading, higher card costs and less NII benefit from rates; JPMorgan's constructive wealth-management commentary; Goldman's continued strength in Equities and Asia; healthy but less spectacular banking pipelines with slow sponsor turnover; no sign that higher rates are denting AI compute demand or the capital-markets super cycle; mixed capital returns, with JPM's light buyback and Citi's below-Street buyback; upside to JPM's NII outlook; broadly controlled expenses; and quietly strong asset and wealth management flows. Evercore ISI raised GS FY27/FY28 EPS to $78.20/$85.00 and maintained its $1,000 target;