Yes, Wall Street’s biggest lenders got even richer after Silicon Valley Bank collapsed

• Big banks have reported their second-quarter earnings over the past week.
• JPMorgan’s profits surged to a record high after it bought First Republic.
• Bank of America and Morgan Stanley also posted strong results as banking crisis fears fade.

Big banks have released their earnings over the past few days – and it’s clear that Wall Street had a good quarter.

JPMorgan’s rescue of First Republic helped its profits surge 67% to a record $14.5 billion for the three months to June 30.

Bank of America, Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo also all beat analysts’ earnings expectations, with each enjoying a share-price bump that’s lifted the benchmark KBW Bank Index by 4% over the past two trading days.

Goldman Sachs’ results on Wednesday will provide a further gauge of the banking sector’s overall health. Early signs suggest that Wall Street’s emerged unscathed from the banking turmoil that rocked markets earlier this year.

Back in March, Silicon Valley Bank collapsed after massive losses in its bond portfolio caused customers like Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund to pull their deposits from the lender.

That failure sparked wider concern, with First Republic collapsing the following month and other regional lenders such as PacWest and Western Alliance also seeing their share prices plummet.

For big banks, the turmoil created an opportunity to win customers who were worried that their deposits weren’t safe, and boost their balance sheets by scooping up smaller lenders.

JPMorgan led the charge by buying First Republic from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on May 1, taking on an additional $104 billion of deposits. CEO Jamie Dimon said at the time that the US Government asked banks including his “to step up, and we did.”

That deal was one reason why JPMorgan posted record profits in the second quarter, analysts said.

Wall Street’s top names have also benefited from the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates from near-zero to more than 5% over the past 16 months in a bid to tame soaring inflation.

That benefits banks because they can charge customers more to borrow when they take out a mortgage or use a credit card.

JPMorgan made almost $22 billion in net interest income in the second quarter, up 44% from the previous year.

Bank of America, Citi, and Wells Fargo also all logged higher net interest income, thanks to the Fed’s aggressive tightening campaign.