Catenaa, Wednesday, December 17, 2025- America’s biggest banks are ending 2025 with their stock prices at record highs, more assets on their balance sheet, and a level of regulatory freedom they haven’t seen in 15 years.
In the years ahead, the industry and its top firms plan to turn that momentum into a growth story.
Bank of America, the nation’s second-largest bank, saw its stock hit a record high in December, finally surpassing its pre-crisis peak reached in 2006.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest and fourth-largest banks, respectively, are trading at record highs.
Citigroup’s stock surpassed the net worth of its assets, known as its book value per share, for the first time in seven years. Citi shares remain 80% lower than their peak reached in 2000.
A key index tracking these banks, along with 20 of the country’s other largest lenders, has climbed 29% year to date, outperforming the S&P 500 by 13%.
Wall Street has been a major growth engine for these banks, with merger momentum and market volatility in 2025 spurring a surge in fees from their investment banking and trading divisions.
Global investment banking volume for the year is on pace to climb 10% from 2024 to its highest level since 2021, according to Dealogic, despite tariff-related swings this spring that froze capital markets and IPO delays as a result of the government shutdown in the fall.
Except Wells Fargo, analysts expect trading fees at all of these banks, along with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, to hit record highs this year.
Banking analysts also expect net income across these four firms to reach a record high.
At an industry conference hosted by Goldman Sachs this month, executives from these firms signaled plans to expand their empires in 2026.
“Global economies at large have generally been resilient despite continued bouts of uncertainty,” Citigroup CFO Mark Mason said. “The capital markets are wide open to some extent.”
