JPMorgan, Citi Lead 1.9% CE 100 Gain With Tokenization Push

Earnings season is officially underway, as big banks and American Express weighed in on the latest quarter, painting a picture of resilient consumer spending and credit metrics that still are strong despite the ongoing impact of tariffs and inflation.

The CE 100 Index gained 1.9% as all sectors, save the Work pillar (which lost 0.6%), were higher.

Banks Kick Off Earnings

Bank stocks were 2.3% higher through the week.

J.P. Morgan’s Q3 2025 earnings reflected consumer strength, with debit and card volumes up ~9% year over year and credit costs totaling $3.4 billion, including $170 million in charge-offs linked to Tricolor Holdings.

CFO Jeremy Barnum said that net charge-offs reached $2.6 billion with an additional $810 million in reserve builds, reflecting conservative provisioning. CEO Jamie Dimon warned that the Tricolor events indicate that “When you see one cockroach, there are probably more.”  The bank reaffirmed expectations for a 3.3% card net charge-off rate in 2025 and reported flat deposit growth. Management reiterated that digital assets, stablecoins and tokenized deposits are central to J.P. Morgan’s long-term payments and liquidity infrastructure.  Shares of J.P. Morgan were 1.1% lower.

Goldman Sachs’ Q3 2025 results showed net revenue of $15.18 billion. CEO David Solomon emphasized that AI now anchors Goldman’s strategy, calling it the foundation of “One Goldman Sachs 3.0,” a firm-wide transformation to automate trading, client onboarding and reporting. Solomon told analysts that markets remain “exuberant, fueled by investment in AI infrastructure,” and that discipline will be essential in managing risk. Goldman also joined peer institutions including Citi to explore issuance of a 1:1 reserve-backed digital currency as part of its longer-term FinTech strategy. The stock dipped 1.1%.

Citigroup reported revenue of $22.1 billion, up ~9% year over year.  CEO Jane Fraser told analysts, “Investments in new products, digital assets, and AI are driving innovation and improved capabilities across the franchise.” Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) unit continues to anchor its strategy, embedding tokenization and programmable liquidity across real-time treasury flows. The stock gained 3.3%.

Elsewhere, and in additional earnings activity, in the payments sector, which was up 0.1%, PYMNTS highlighted that Gen Z and millennials now account for 36% of total AmEx card spend, underscoring how younger consumers are driving volume growth. Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec said on the call that U.S. consumer and small business delinquency rates were below 2019 levels. Retail spending was up 12%, and within that segment, spending on restaurants gained 9%.  Shares in American Express surged 9.6%.

Mastercard shares tacked on 0.6%. This past week, Mastercard introduced a service aimed at improving approval rates for merchants.  The Payment Optimization Platform (POP) uses data to make “intelligent decisions about transactions,” the company said.  According to Mastercard, early tests show a 9% to 15% uptick in conversions.

Affirm is expanding its buy now, pay later network through new partnerships with Fanatics and FreshBooks, extending its reach to both retail and small business audiences.  The company also launched a “0% Days” nationwide campaign, offering interest-free holiday financing options. The stock slipped 4.6%.

The Enablers segment gained 1.7%.  Klarna announced that it is expanding its partnership with Google to support the new Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open standard designed to enable secure, AI-driven payments. The collaboration builds on Klarna’s existing integrations with Google and reflects both companies’ efforts to align around intelligent commerce and automation, PYMNTS detailed.  Shares of Alphabet jumped 6.9%.