JPMorgan Chase shares plunge 4.66% as management flags cost surge, cautious economic outlook

JPMorgan Chase shares plunged 4.66% in pre-market trading on December 10, 2025, marking a sharp selloff as investors reacted to management’s guidance on elevated costs and cautious economic outlook.

Executive Marianne Lake, overseeing the bank’s consumer and community banking division, revealed JPMorgan anticipates 2026 expenses to reach $105 billion—surpassing analyst forecasts and reflecting structural inflation impacts, growth-related costs, and strategic investments. Key cost drivers include branch expansion, AI initiatives, and increased compensation for advisers. The projection, 9% above current expectations, signals potential margin pressure amid a fragile consumer environment.

The decline echoes a 2022 episode where cost guidance triggered a sell-off, prompting CEO Jamie Dimon to host an investor day. While Lake noted optimism in fourth-quarter investment banking and trading revenue growth, the market’s reaction underscored skepticism about the bank’s ability to balance growth with profitability. Citigroup and Bank of America also fell, highlighting sector-wide concerns.

Lake tempered optimism about consumer resilience, warning of reduced capacity to absorb economic shocks despite normalized cash buffers. Her comments, delivered at a Goldman Sachs conference, reinforced broader market anxieties about inflationary pressures and the sustainability of recent dealmaking momentum.