JPMorgan Is No Goldman

JPMorgan Chase's (JPM Quote) second-quarter earnings were boosted by record investment banking fees, but unlike rival Goldman Sachs (GS Quote), a steadily deteriorating consumer loan book remains a dark cloud on its horizon.

JPMorgan on Thursday posted a profit of 28 cents a share in the second quarter, down from 53 cents a year earlier, but far better than the 4 cents a share predicted by analysts.

The results were weighed by a charge of $1.1 billion, or 27 cents a share, related to the company's repayment last month of the federal government's $25 preferred equity investment made through the Troubled Asset Relief Program. JPMorgan also was hit with a special assessment of 10 cents a share by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The company said its $27.7 billion in revenue on a managed basis for the quarter was its best ever. The company recorded $19.67 billion in revenue in the year-ago quarter. Results were driven by record equity underwriting fees and fixed income markets revenue, much like Goldman reported on Tuesday.

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While JPMorgan said on a conference call that it sees early signs of credit conditions improving, it acknowledges it is not out of the woods yet. The company still struggles with a troubled home equity portfolio as well as continued deterioration in its prime and subprime mortgage portfolios. In addition, the company's credit card portfolio continues to significantly worsen. JPMorgan Chase has already warned that it does not plan to make a profit in the cards business this year.