JP Morgan Chase & Co. Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on accountability for megabanks in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on April 10, 2019.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
JPMorgan Chase shares rose Tuesday after CEO Jamie Dimon called the biggest U.S. bank “very valuable” at the current price.
“I think JPMorgan is a very valuable company at these prices,” Dimon said in response to a question at a virtual financial services conference about the New York-based bank’s valuation.
JPMorgan shares surged 7.9% to $96.55 after Dimon made the remarks.
The context for the question: Dimon bought $26 million in shares in February 2016, a confidence-boosting move that later proved to be close to the bottom of the stock market at the time.
“I’m not trying to predict the bottom,” Dimon said, adding that “you cannot be a bank and be immune to what goes on in the world out there.” JPMorgan has said that its earnings, compared with a record in 2019, would take a hit as loan losses climbed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But he did say that was hopeful that his “base case” for the economy would occur, which would include improving unemployment in the second half of the year after hitting almost 20% in the second quarter.
“I give it some pretty good odds,” Dimon said. “The government has been very responsive, the Federal Reserve has been very responsive. Large companies have a huge wherewithal, hopefully we’ll keep the small ones alive long enough that most of them get back into business.”
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.