Banking giants JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) have appeared multiple times on Jim Cramer’s radar in 2026. For JPMorgan, Cramer has insisted on multiple occasions that the stock is undervalued when it comes to the price-to-earnings ratio. As for Wells Fargo, Cramer believes that the strategies put in place by CEO Charlie Scharf have not translated into a healthy multiple. On the 17th, the CNBC TV host continued to insist that the multiples were low:
“But I do think that JPMorgan, I’m gonna say it, I think it’s still radically undervalued. Yeah, I put it down as stocks that I wish I owned, JPMorgan. You know, 15 multiple, just doing everything right. What is it doing down there? Why? Why?
“I think when you have JPMorgan up 12%, in a year when JPMorgan could be the dominant banking institution worldwide, that makes no sense to me. I mean, what are people thinking when they sell it? Cause it’s at 14 times earnings? They expect it to be 13 times earnings?
“By the way, I am a believer in Wells Fargo, Charlie Scharf, one of the smartest minds in the business, that’s downn4% for the year. You want a bargain? 12 times earnings, 12 times earnings. When Buffett loved it it wasn’t, it was 10 times earnings in 1990.”
For Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), the narrative is driven by the Federal Reserve’s decision to remove the bank’s asset cap in June 2025. The cap had limited the bank from growing its assets beyond the $1.95 trillion mark, which limited the bank’s ability to grow. Among the initiatives that Scharf is spearheading include corporate and investment banking initiatives, which have benefited from seasoned executives joining its ranks. The impact of the asset cap removal was also clear on Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)’s loan growth, which increased by 12% annually to $1 trillion in the second quarter. Similarly, investment banking fees jumped by 35% to $939 million while Markets revenue grew by 24% to $2.2 billion, which makes Cramer’s optimism in the firm clear.
Yet, at the same time, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)’s past continues to haunt it. During its second quarter, the bank’s personnel costs jumped to $8 billion due to the need to maintain compliance and risk assessment teams. Additionally, while Markets might be working, excluding the business, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)’s net interest income grew by just 2% to highlight the impact of deposit betas and yield curve shifts.
Looking at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), the bank’s second quarter earnings also explain why Cramer doesn’t like the multiple. During the quarter, the bank grow its net income to a whopping $21 billion from the year-ago figure of $14.9 billion. Even after one time gains such as $1 billion investment gains and $4.6 billion Visa gains were removed, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s net income sat at $16.9 billion. The bank matched Wells Fargo in Markets and investment banking growth with the former growing its revenue by 35% and the latter growing its fees by 30%.
Additionally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s stature enabled its Wealth Management division to grow AUM by 18% to $5.1 trillion. Yet, growth comes at a cost as noninterest expenses grew by 15% and net interest income excluding Markets grew by 4%. Nevertheless, the 4% figure still outpaced Wells Fargo. The consumer side of the business also struggled in the currently tight environment as JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) generated $2.1 billion in loan loss provisions. To sum it up, the bank might be benefiting from the seasonal nature of the investment banking and Markets businesses and slow core NII growth, coupled with high expenses, could create headwinds.
Hedge funds clearly stand with JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) as 131 out of 1,022 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had held a stake in the firm in Q1. On the other hand, the figure was 82 for WFC. On the valuation side, WFC’s forward P/E ratio of 11.71 is lower than JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s 14.79. Short % of float is negligible for both.
While Insider Monkey acknowledges the risk and potential of JPM as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than JPM that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None.
