Today's Financial Stock Winners and Losers

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) posted first-quarter earnings of $3.08 billion, or 86 cents a share, compared with $2.3 billion, or 63 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Net revenue rose 12% to $15.2 billion. Earnings in the year-ago quarter included a charge of $558 million, or 15 cents a share, stemming from JPMorgan's settlement payout in the WorldCom litigation.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for a profit of 83 cents a share and revenue of $15.2 billion. Shares of JPMorgan closed up 2 cents to $42.62.

Piper Jaffray (PJC) rose after the company beat Wall Street's first-quarter earnings expectations. Piper reported net income of $23.9 million, or $1.25 a share, compared with $7.3 million, or 38 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 27% to $227.6 million. Analysts were looking for earnings of 63 cents a share on sales of $197.2 million. Shares rose $5.25, or 7.8%, to $72.65.

Knight Capital's (NITE) shares gained after the trading firm topped estimates for the first quarter. Knight earned $49 million, or 47 cents a share, vs. $5.8 million and 5 cents a share a year earlier. Revenue doubled to $276 million.

On an operating basis, excluding a charge, Knight earned 52 cents a share. Analysts were looking for a profit of 30 cents a share and revenue of $194 million. Knight's shares jumped $2.78, or 19.3%, to $17.16.

BlackRock (BLK), which is due to see its assets grow to more than $1 trillion after its merger with Merrill Lynch's (MER) fund-management division, earned $70.9 million, or $1.06 a share, in the first quarter, up from $46.5 million, or 70 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding certain items, earnings were $1.23 a share. First-quarter revenue rose 58% to $395.7 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected the company to earn $1.12 a share on revenue of $330.1 million. Shares of BlackRock gained $8.81, or 6%, to $156.31.