NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Financial services provider J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Wednesday reported improved second-quarter results that still fell well short of Wall Street expectations.

The nation's No. 2 bank holding company in terms of assets behind competitor Citigroup, earned $1.18 billion, or 58 cents a share, excluding special items and including merger charges. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call had a consensus earnings-per-share forecast of 65 cents. The results are up from the $786 million, or 33 cents a share, it earned on the same basis in the year-earlier period.

Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: Research, Estimates), one of seven components of the Dow Jones industrial average set to report financial results Wednesday, lost $1.58, or 5.25 percent, to close Tuesday trading at $28.50.