Bank of America Posts Better Profits, But Lower Revenue, Than Expected
The firm said Wednesday it earned $0.89 per share in the second quarter, beating estimates by 4 cents, while revenue was up 4% from the same time a year ago to $26.46 billion, slightly below the analyst consensus compiled by Visible Alpha.
Bank of America's net interest income rose 7% year-over-year to $14.67 billion, just below the $14.71 billion that analysts had forecast.
"Consumers remained resilient, with healthy spending and asset quality, and commercial borrower utilization rates rose," CEO Brian Moynihan said in a press release. "In addition, we saw good momentum in our markets businesses."
Bank of America shares were up 1.8% premarket following Wednesday's results. They entered the day up 5% since the start of this year.
The bank topped estimates last quarter, when Moynihan noted strong performance from its business clients and resilience from American consumers. Some banking executives have grown more confident in the macroeconomic outlook for the rest of this year, experts have said.
Bank stocks got a boost last month after the Federal Reserve's annual stress test showed that the biggest U.S. banks would easily be capable of surviving a recession. Banking rivals JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC) reported largely solid results on Tuesday, and Goldman Sachs (GS) is slated to post results this morning.
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New York Post
44 minutes ago
- New York Post
Trump's trade wins shock the experts — who are blind to business reality
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Whole industries in Europe and Asia would collapse without access to the American consumer. Trump is willing to give them access — for a price. Instead of using punitive tariffs to exclude foreign goods altogether, Trump is willing to strike a deal with anyone to allow goods to be sold in America at a price that makes the trade worthwhile for Americans and foreign companies alike. The hitch: The deal must be on terms favorable for American workers and industry. The president's arrangement with the European Union levies a 15% tariff on most EU goods — but that's peanuts compared to the 30% Trump was threatening if Europe didn't cooperate. The deal calls for new European investments of $600 billion in America, as well as for EU members to buy more energy and military equipment from us. 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The modest protection a 15% tariff affords gives more investors at home a reason to put their capital into American companies — which is good for our workforce and consumers alike. It means more jobs and more goods; more money in Americans' pockets and more stock on the shelves, which keeps prices down. There's risk in all this, but the upside opportunity is much greater, as entrepreneurs here and abroad recognize. For the Europeans, it's a no-brainer: The American market is so rife with profit possibilities that a 15% access fee is a very modest cost of doing business. American businesses should recognize their opportunity as well — they're native to a market the entire world is desperate to be in, and they should use that advantage to the fullest, investing at home and making the sales that foreign firms are so eager to make here. In this trade war, all Americans are winning — except, perhaps, the overeducated prisoners of the Ivory Tower. Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review and editor-at-large of The American Conservative.
Bloomberg
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an hour ago
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President Trump will conclude his four-day trip to his ancestral homeland of Scotland on Tuesday. The final engagement on Trump's official schedule before his return is the opening of a new golf course, in memory of his late mother, in Aberdeen, on the east coast of Scotland. That's a fitting conclusion to a trip that has included some Trump brand promotion in addition to official business. But it's not as if the news has stopped during Trump's Scottish sojourn. Here are the five biggest takeaways. U.S. gets the better of a trade deal with the European Union The announcement of a trade deal with the EU was plainly the biggest substantive moment from the trip. Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put the finishing touches to the agreement on Sunday, meeting at Trump's other Scottish golf course at Turnberry. There was still some vagueness around specifics but the basic gist of the deal is that European imports to the U.S. will mostly be tariffed at 15 percent. 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Asked whether he agreed with an assertion from Netanyahu that there was no starvation in Gaza, Trump replied, 'I don't know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry.' Trump also said, 'That's real starvation. I see it and you can't fake that.' British government sources told the liberal-leaning Guardian newspaper that Starmer had 'privately pressed Trump on Gaza during the trip.' Trump also promised the U.S. would set up food centers in Gaza, though details were sparse. The key question, of course, is whether anything substantive will change in American policy toward Israel. On Ukraine, Trump directs more ire at Putin One of the most unexpected developments of recent months has been Trump shifting toward a harder line on Russia. That idea seemed fanciful back in late February when Trump and Vice President Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office. But Trump has grown frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin's stubbornness in continuing to pursue the war begun with his invasion three and a half years ago. Trump declared himself 'disappointed in President Putin' during remarks on Monday. He also suggested he would tighten a deadline for peace negotiations to '10 or 12 days.' Putin has not seemed overly concerned with Trump's deadlines previously but the remarks were nonetheless an indicator of the president's growing frustration with the Kremlin. The Epstein saga proves inescapable Trump has proven unable to put the controversy over Jeffrey Epstein behind him – and his Scottish trip did not change that. Just as before, it was words and actions from Trump and his allies that, at least in part, kept the matter in the headlines. On Monday, Trump suggested that his falling-out with Epstein two decades ago had its roots in the disgraced financier repeatedly hiring staff away. 'He stole people that worked for me,' Trump said. This explanation had not previously been offered as a reason why Trump had broken off contact with Epstein – a move that came before Epstein was charged with any criminal offense. Previous interpretations leaned on the idea that Epstein had engaged in some kind of inappropriate behavior that had come to Trump's attention, or that the two men had become estranged because of a competitive battle over real estate. Separately, Monday also saw reporting that Trump's legal team wants media mogul Rupert Murdoch deposed as soon as possible in his lawsuit for defamation against the Wall Street Journal. The legal filing raised the issue of 'health issues' for Murdoch, who is 94. Trump is suing the Journal over a report that a letter bearing his name was included in an album to marking Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. Trump says the letter is fake. In any event, now that Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are mounting a bipartisan bid to force the Department of Justice to give up more documentation about Epstein, Trump will need to recognize that the issue won't be going anywhere for a while. Plenty of publicity for the golf courses Critics have long lamented overlaps between Trump's political activities and his business interests. They will further irked by the Scotland trip, which was at least as much about golfing as about political business. But Trump seems sure to appreciate the massive amount of free publicity he has just got bestowed upon his Scottish courses.
