This is how JPMorgan Chase's stock stands out in the elite $900 billion club

By Philip van Doorn

The company is poised to close with a market capitalization of more than $900 billion, putting it in an exclusive group - and one in which its stock is the cheapest

Shares of JPMorgan Chase were up 3% in midday trading on Jan. 5.

On Monday, JPMorgan Chase was positioned to close with a market capitalization of more than $900 billion for the first time ever. That would add the largest U.S. bank to an exclusive club - and one in which it already stands out.

Only 12 U.S. companies have ever finished a trading day with a market cap above $900 billion, though not all have maintained that level. JPMorgan (JPM) is poised to be the 13th as shares were seeing 3% intraday rally.

JPMorgan has, by far, the lowest forward price-to-earnings ratio of the group, at 15.3. This compares with a forward P/E of 22.5 for the S&P 500 SPX.

   Company                    Jan. 2 market cap ($bil)  Forward P/E  P/E one year ago 
   Nvidia Corp.                                 $4,660         24.0              31.2 
   Apple Inc.                                   $3,999         31.6              32.3 
   Alphabet Inc.                                $3,833         27.7              21.3 
   Microsoft Corp.                              $3,523         26.6              32.0 
   Amazon.com Inc.                              $2,446         27.5              36.8 
   Broadcom Inc.                                $1,682         31.2              28.2 
   Meta Platforms Inc.                          $1,641         21.5              24.8 
   Tesla Inc.                                   $1,490        200.7             126.2 
   Berkshire Hathaway Inc.                      $1,071         19.1              22.7 
   Eli Lilly and Co.                            $1,021         32.2              34.7 
   Walmart Inc.                                   $899         37.7              34.3 
   JPMorgan Chase & Co.                           $895         15.3              14.3 
   Oracle Corp.                                   $562         25.2              26.3 
                                                                         Source: LSEG 

To the right are forward P/E ratios for the stocks. These are Friday's closing prices divided by consensus earnings-per-share estimates among analysts polled by LSEG. The right-most column shows what the forward P/E ratios were a year ago.

Over the decades, the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index BKX of 24 of the largest U.S. stocks has typically traded at a forward P/E of about 70% that of the S&P 500. And that is roughly where JPMorgan's forward P/E stacks up against the S&P 500 right now.

But JPMorgan's stock returned 37.3% during 2025, while the S&P 500 returned 17.9%, both with dividends reinvested. A year ago, JPMorgan's forward P/E was a bit lower, at 14.3, while the S&P 500's forward P/E was 21.5.

For five years through 2025, JPMorgan's stock returned 188.9% while the S&P 500 returned 96.2%. It may be a surprise to investors to see JPM continuing to trade at a rather modest P/E valuation.

Don't miss: Why 2026 could be a banner year for regional-bank stocks

-Philip van Doorn

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01-05-26 1246ET