Earnings Growth & Price Strength Make JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) a Stock to Watch

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Breaking Down the Zacks Focus List

If you could get access to a curated list of stocks to kickstart your investment portfolio, wouldn't you jump at the chance to take a peek?

Enter the Zacks Focus List. It's a portfolio made up of 50 stocks that are set to beat the market over the next 12 months; each company selected serves as a foundation for long-term investors looking to create an individual portfolio.

Additionally, each selection is accompanied by a full Zacks Analyst Report, something that makes the Focus List even more valuable. The report explains in detail why each stock was picked and why we believe it's good for the long-term.

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Focus List Methodology

When stocks are picked for the Focus List, it reflects our enduring reliance on the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Earnings estimates are expectations of growth and profitability, and are determined by brokerage analysts. Together with company management, these analysts examine every aspect that may affect future earnings, like interest rates, the economy, and sector and industry optimism.

Earnings estimate revisions are very important, since investors also need to take into consideration what a company will earn in the future.

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Harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions is where the Zacks Rank comes in. The Zacks Rank is a unique, proprietary stock-rating model that utilizes changes to a company's quarterly earnings expectations to help investors build a winning portfolio.

The Zacks Rank consists of four main pillars: Agreement, Magnitude, Upside, and Surprise. Each one is given a raw score, which is recalculated every night and compiled into the Rank. Then, stocks are classified into five groups, ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Strong Sell," using this data.

The Focus List is comprised of stocks hand-picked from a long list of #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy) ranked companies, meaning that each new addition boasts a bullish earnings consensus among analysts.

Because stock prices react to revisions, buying stocks with rising earnings estimates can be very profitable. Focus List stocks offer investors a great opportunity to get into companies whose future earnings estimates will be raised, potentially leading to price momentum.

Focus List Spotlight: JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)

Headquartered in New York, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is one of the biggest global banks with assets worth $5.02 trillion and total stockholders’ equity worth $374.6 billion as of June 30, 2026. With operations in more than 60 countries, the company (incorporated under Delaware law in 1968) is one of the largest financial service firms globally.

Since being added to the Focus List on October 10, 2016 at $68.11 per share, shares of JPM have increased 432.73% to $362.84. The stock is currently a #2 (Buy) on the Zacks Rank.

For fiscal 2026, six analysts revised their earnings estimate upwards in the last 60 days, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased $2.61 to $24.93. JPM boasts an average earnings surprise of 7.3%.

Earnings for JPM are forecasted to see growth of 22.6% for the current fiscal year as well.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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