The Asian market has been a little rough lately, as evidenced by some of the biggest players therein. Japan recently, and unexpectedly, slipped into a recession, though there are signs that a labor shortage is providing some help to the average worker. Meanwhile, several analysts are convinced that China is one bad move away from catastrophe. Meanwhile, banking giant JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) is pulling back on the Asian market with some new layoffs, and investors are reasonably pleased, sending shares up fractionally in Tuesday afternoon’s trading.
JPMorgan joins a series of other lenders who are pulling back on the Asian market, dismissing at least seven of their staff in this area. For the most part, these were upper-tier staffers, with most of them being either vice presidents or associates. The firings took place over a wide range of sectors, too, with staff cut in everything from healthcare to energy. This actually continues a pattern that started back in June 2023, when JPMorgan let go of around 20 different staffers who were handling investment banking in Asia.
Four Years of Crisis, No Bottom in Sight
Pulling back on the Asian market may be a good idea right now, considering how much of it is actually just a nice way of saying “China.” And China has not been a good market for deal-making for some time now. Its real estate crisis is now entering its fourth year and showing no visible signs of slowing.
In Hong Kong alone, grade A office building vacancy rates hit a record 12.2% in the first quarter of 2024, and “weak demand amid economic uncertainty” is plaguing the field. If that’s what’s happening to business real estate, it’s a safe bet the businesses that would occupy said real estate aren’t doing much better. And that likely explains a lot of why JPMorgan is pulling back.
Is JPMorgan Stock a Buy Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on JPM stock based on 18 Buys and five Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 43.95% rally in its share price over the past year, the average JPM price target of $211.96 per share implies 10.14% upside potential.
