Here's How These 6 Big Bank Stocks Make Their Money

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) have something in common: They're among the biggest names in American banking. But how they make their money can be surprisingly different.

Some rely heavily on traditional lending, collecting interest on mortgages, credit cards, and business loans. Others generate billions from investment banking, trading, and managing money for wealthy clients. Some do a little bit of everything.

All six banks reported third-quarter earnings on Oct. 13 and 14, giving investors a closer look at the businesses driving their profits. Here's what stood out with these six bank stocks.

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JPMorgan Chase: A little bit of everything

JPMorgan Chase is the U.S.'s largest bank, and one of its biggest advantages is its ability to earn money in multiple ways. Its asset management business generated $5.9 billion in fees during Q3, a 15% increase from a year ago. Investment banking fees climbed 13% to $3 billion, including a 32% jump in advisory fees.

Don't overlook the credit card business. Card income surged 25% to $1.43 billion, helped by higher annual fees. Meanwhile, revenue from Card Services & Auto increased 15% to $8.28 billion. Even automobile leasing is contributing to growth. Operating lease income reached $1.2 billion, up from $987 million a year earlier, as the bank expanded its portfolio of leased vehicles.

That's the appeal of JPMorgan Chase's business model. It can generate revenue from everyday consumer banking while collecting substantial fees from wealthy investors and corporate clients.

Bank of America: Wealth management is doing the heavy lifting

Bank of America is another banking giant with several revenue streams, but its wealth management business has become a particularly important source of growth. Global Wealth & Investment Management generated $7.1 billion in Q3 revenue, up 13%, while net income reached $1.54 billion. Asset management fees climbed to approximately $4.5 billion from $3.9 billion a year earlier. Client balances reached a whopping $5.1 trillion.

Bank of America also makes substantial money from a business that most people rarely think about. Its Global Transaction Services operation helps companies manage payments, cash, and other financial transactions. Revenue from that business increased 11% to $3.04 billion.

Not everything was growing. Investment banking fees in its Global Banking segment declined to $971 million from $1.16 billion. Still, Consumer Banking generated $3.52 billion in net income on revenue of $11.6 billion, demonstrating the strength of its traditional banking operations.

Wells Fargo: More customers, more loans

Wells Fargo has a more traditional approach to generating profits, relying heavily on lending and deposits. During Q3, it was doing more of both. Average loans and deposits each increased 11% from a year earlier, helping push net interest income up 5% to $12.52 billion.

Net interest income is the difference between what a bank earns from lending money and what it pays depositors. Wells Fargo's net interest margin declined to 2.43% from 2.61%, meaning the bank earned less on each dollar of interest-earning assets even as its overall lending business expanded.

Consumer Banking and Lending was particularly strong, with revenue increasing 5% to $10.66 billion. Net income in that segment jumped 21% to $2.76 billion, helped by a 3% reduction in expenses.

Wells Fargo is demonstrating that growing its loan portfolio and controlling costs can offset some of the pressure from narrower lending margins.

Citigroup: The business behind the business

Citigroup may be best known for its consumer banking operations, but its biggest profit engine is a business that operates largely behind the scenes. Citi's Services division helps corporations and financial institutions manage cash, move money internationally, and conduct financial transactions.

Business is booming. Q3 Services revenue increased 15% to $6.6 billion, while net income jumped 27% to $2.64 billion. Average deposits climbed 16% to $1.04 trillion.

Meanwhile, Citi's wealth management business is showing substantial improvement. Net income reached $585 million, up from $303 million a year earlier. The business also attracted $38 billion in net new investment assets.

For Citigroup, corporate cash management and wealth management are proving to be powerful sources of earnings.

Goldman Sachs: Wall Street is the business

Goldman Sachs doesn't depend on traditional consumer banking nearly as much as some of its competitors. Instead, it makes much of its money helping corporations raise capital, advising on transactions, and trading financial securities.

During Q3, equities trading was particularly lucrative. Equities revenue reached $6.44 billion, accounting for more than one-third of the company's total revenue. Within that business, equities financing revenue nearly doubled, climbing 96% to a record $3.37 billion. The increase reflected strong activity in prime brokerage and portfolio financing.

Goldman Sachs' Global Banking & Markets division generated 72% of total net revenue. That's a striking concentration, but it also illustrates what makes the company different from traditional banks. When activity in financial markets is strong, its trading and investment banking businesses can generate enormous amounts of revenue.

Morgan Stanley: Managing the money

Morgan Stanley also has a substantial presence on Wall Street, but wealth management has become a defining part of its business, and the numbers are impressive.

Q3 Wealth Management revenue reached a record $9.07 billion, up 10% from a year earlier. The division generated a pretax profit margin of 30.4%, helped by record asset management revenue and higher interest income. Loans in the division increased to $201 billion from $174 billion.

Perhaps the most impressive number was the amount of new money flowing into the business. Morgan Stanley attracted $232 billion in net new assets during the quarter, compared with $81 billion a year earlier. Fee-based asset flows nearly doubled to $80.5 billion.

Bank stocks to buy

America's biggest banks may compete for many of the same customers, but their businesses aren't interchangeable.

JPMorgan Chase benefits from its diversified operations, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are collecting substantial wealth management fees, and Citigroup is finding success in corporate financial services. Wells Fargo is growing through traditional lending, while Goldman Sachs continues to capitalize on activity in financial markets.

For investors, understanding where those profits come from is an important part of understanding what makes each bank different.

Citigroup is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Patrick Sanders has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Goldman Sachs Group and JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.