Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) released its first-quarter earnings report before the markets opened on Thursday. The company said it had $0.21 in earnings per share (EPS) on $19.5 billion in revenue, which compares to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.21 in EPS on revenue of $20.30 billion. In the same period of last year, the bank posted EPS of $0.27 and $21.42 billion in revenue.

During this quarter, total deposit balance grew by $64.1 billion to $1.2 trillion, and total loan balances grew by $28.4 billion to $901.1 billion.

Return on assets totaled 0.5% while return on average common equity was 3.8% for this quarter.

Tangible book value per share increased 9% to $16.17, and at the same time book value per share increased 7% to $23.12.

Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, commented:

This quarter, we benefited from good consumer and commercial banking activity. Our business segments earned $4.5 billion, up 16 percent from the year-ago quarter. This was partially offset by valuation adjustments from lower long-term interest rates and annual compensation expenses. Despite volatile markets, our Global Markets business produced solid earnings. As always, we are focused on loan and deposit growth and managing expenses. By doing that, we continue to improve on what we do best: helping consumers live their financial lives and helping businesses grow and employ more people.

Chief Financial Officer Paul Donofrio added:

In a challenging and volatile environment, we stayed true to our strategy this quarter. We grew loans and deposits, increased core net interest income and improved an already strong and highly liquid balance sheet, increasing tangible book value per share by 9%. We also reduced noninterest expense by $1 billion, or 6%, as we continued to focus on improving operating leverage.

Shares of Bank of America traded up fractionally Thursday morning to $13.91. The consensus analyst price target is $17.40, and the 52-week trading range is $10.99 to $18.48.

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