Driven by a robust performance in its investment banking division, JPMorgan Chase Wednesday posted its third-quarter results, which - the bank's strongest ever since the economic took hold - surpassed the expectations of the Wall Street analysts.

The first of the large banks to submit its third-quarter earnings report this week, JPMorgan Chase posted a $3.6 billion, or 82 cents per share, earnings, beating the Wall Street analysts' expectations of a quarterly profit of $2.03 billion, or 52 cents per share.

Though the bank faced losses in the consumer-related parts of its business, it saw a more than twofold increase in year-on-year profits at its investment banking business, with the profit figures reaching $1.9 billion.

Over the past year, JPMorgan's investment banking business has been experiencing noteworthy growth, more so due to the departure of Lehman Brothers last fall and the rather grim situation faced by competitors like Citigroup.

Furthermore, the boom in the recently issued corporate and government debt provided a substantial boost to the fixed income of the JPMorgan's investment division during the quarter.

Nonetheless, noting that the performance of both JPMorgan's fixed-income and broader investment banking business is yet to prove its sustainability in coming quarters, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said: "While we are seeing some initial signs of consumer credit stability, we are not yet certain that this trend will continue."