MW Bank of America profit jumps 10%, but CEO Moynihan warns of 'a changing economy'

By Steve Gelsi

Fueled by growing deposits and a boost in sales and trading revenue, Bank of America's first-quarter profit blows past Wall Street analyst estimates

$Bank of America Corp(BAC-N)$.'s stock was up 2% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the megabank topped Wall Street's earnings and revenue targets as it marked its 12th straight quarter of growth in its sales and trading business.

Bank of America $(BAC.SI)$ Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said consumers continue to spend while maintaining healthy credit profiles, but, he warned, "We potentially face a changing economy."

In a sign of caution in the face of market jitters about a recession and President Donald Trump's tariff policy, Bank of America's provision for credit losses rose by $200 million to $1.5 billion.

See: Here comes another Wall Street S&P 500 target reduction. Stagflation risks are rising.

Moynihan said the bank's overall results were "good" as net interest income increased 3% to $14.4 billion, while asset-management-fee income fueled an 8% rise to $6 billion in global wealth- and asset-management revenue.

"Our business clients have been performing well; and consumers have shown resilience, continuing to spend and maintaining healthy credit quality," the bank said.

Bank of America's first-quarter profit climbed about 10% to $7.4 billion, or 90 cents a share, from $6.7 billion, or 76 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. The bank topped the FactSet consensus estimate of 82 cents a share.

First-quarter revenue rose 6% to $27.4 billion, ahead of the analyst estimate of $26.97 billion.

Sales and trading revenue rose 11% to $5.7 billion. Including net debit-valuation gains, sales and trading revenue rose 9% for its 12th consecutive quarter of expansion.

Average deposits rose to about $2 trillion for its seventh straight quarter of growth.

Bank of America's results in some ways mirrored quarterly updates in recent days from JPMorgan Chase & Co. $(JPM)$ and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. $(GS)$, with robust trading revenue during periods of market volatility in the quarter.

Investment-banking revenue at Bank of America fell 3% to $1.5 billion, as some deal making cooled during the quarter.

Average deposit balances increased by 3% to $1.96 trillion.

Bank of America's credit-card customers spent 4% more for a total of $228 billion during the quarter.

Ahead of Tuesday's trading, Bank of America's stock has fallen 16.6% in 2025, while the S&P 500 SPX is down by 8.1%.

Also read: Goldman Sachs sees clients craving policy certainty - and putting off decisions - as deal backlog grows

-Steve Gelsi

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April 15, 2025 08:06 ET (12:06 GMT)

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