Top US Banks Earn $52 Billion From AI Stock Boom

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley have captured the majority of the artificial intelligence stock boom, earning a combined $52 billion in equities trading revenue through September 30, 2026. This amount accounts for nearly 80% of the $67 billion total earned by the five largest investment banks. The surge is fueled by institutional and retail demand for AI stocks, ETFs, and derivatives, with significant activity in Asia's semiconductor and memory chip markets.

To support this growth, JPMorgan Chase and its peers expanded prime brokerage services, providing hedge funds with the leverage required to amplify bets on hyperscalers and AI hardware. This profitability was aided by 2025 Trump administration regulatory changes that eased balance-sheet caps and leverage rules for large U.S. banks.

Despite the gains, stability concerns have emerged. The International Monetary Fund and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon noted that industrywide leverage has reached historic highs. While bank executives argue that stress testing and collateral mitigate these risks, the International Monetary Fund warned that crowded positions and hedge fund leverage could create systemic stability risks. The Big Three banks maintain that their scale allows them to absorb single-trade losses that would bankrupt smaller rivals.