Bank of America (BAC) Q1 2026 earnings

Bank of Americathe country’s second-largest bank, beat top and bottom results during the first quarter, boosted by stock sales and trading.

Here is what the company said:

• EPS: $1.11 per share versus $1.01 LSEG estimate
• profit: $30.43 billion vs. $29.93 billion estimate

Net income rose 17% to $8.6 billion, or $1.11 per share, the highest earnings per share for Bank of America in nearly two decades, the bank said on Wednesday.

Revenue rose 7.2% to $30.43 billion due to higher net interest income, higher trading revenue and fees from investment banking and asset management.

Stock trading has contributed to this rhythm, as the geopolitical environment has turbulent stock markets. Revenue in that business jumped 30% to $2.83 billion, beating StreetAccount estimates of about $350 million and helping push the bank’s trading operations to its best quarter in 15 years.

Investment banking also beat estimates and rose 21% to $1.8 billion, compared to StreetAccount’s forecast of $1.73 billion.

Net interest income, a measure of profitability for making loans, rose 9% to $15.9 billion, also beating expectations of $15.67 billion, according to StreetAccount. This is due to higher loan and deposit balances, repricing of fixed-rate assets, and market activity.

Bank of America previously expected net interest income to grow between 5% and 7% this year, but raised that guidance on Wednesday to between 6% and 8% due to outperformance in the first quarter.

In a sign that the bank’s borrowers have not deteriorated, the company recorded a $1.3 billion provision for credit losses in the quarter, less than the $1.5 billion provision in the same period a year earlier and about $190 million below the estimate.

“Right now, the company is doing well. Consumers are spending, the quality of credit is very good and improving, and you’re seeing corporate customers actually using their lines a little bit more,” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told CNBC on Wednesday. “We’re all facing the same uncertainty, but right now, American businesses and consumers are doing well, and frankly, our global businesses are doing very well.”

However, like rival Goldman Sachs, the bank’s fixed income revenues fell short of expectations. This business generated revenue of about $3.5 billion, which was $330 million below StreetAccount’s estimate.

The net discount ratio, which shows the proportion of total loans that were deemed uncollectible, improved 6 basis points during the quarter to 0.48%. The company’s consumer banking division and global wealth division each generated more than 20% of net income.

Return on tangible common stock, a measure of profitability, was 16%, an improvement of more than 200 basis points.

CNBC’s Hugh Soon and Laiya Neelakandan contributed to this report.

Correction: Bank of America had previously guided for net interest income growth of between 5% and 7% this year. An earlier version of this article misstated the scope. The company’s consumer banking division and global wealth division each received more than 20% of net income. An earlier version misstated the growth scale.