Bank of America Drags Despite Earnings Beat

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) released its most recent quarterly earnings report before the markets opened on Friday. The megabank said that it had $0.48 in earnings per share (EPS) and $22.83 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.45 in EPS and revenue of $21.98 billion. The third quarter of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.41 and $21.86 billion in revenue.

At the end of the quarter, average loans and leases totaled $918 billion, up from $901 billion in the same period of last year. Average deposits were $1.27 trillion, up from $1.23 trillion.

In terms of its segments, Bank of America reported the following:

• Consumer Banking revenues rose 10% to $8.8 billion.
• Global Wealth and Investment Management revenues rose 6% to $4.6 billion.
• Global Banking revenues rose 5% to $5.0 billion.
• Global Markets sales and trading revenues totaled $3.1 billion.

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Return on average assets came in at 0.98%. Return on average common equity was 8.1% and return on average tangible common equity totaled 11.3%. Book value per share declined 1% to $23.92, and tangible book value per share rose 1% to $17.23. Basel 3 Fully Phased-in CET1 ratio was 11.9%.

Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, commented:

Our focus on responsible growth and improving the way we serve customers and clients produced another quarter of strong results. Revenue across our four lines of business grew 4 percent, even with a challenging comparable quarter for trading. We delivered positive operating leverage year over year for the 11th consecutive quarter while continuing to invest in improved capabilities. Digital activity with customers continues to shape the way we provide products and services to customers, with the most recent example being Zelle, our new person-to-person payment capability.

Shares of Bank of America traded down less than 1% at $25.26 early Friday. Its consensus analyst price target is $27.50, and the 52-week trading range is $15.90 to $26.30.

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