Bank of America’s (BAC) fourth-quarter profit greater than doubled because it benefitted from a Wall Street dealmaking revival that also lifted results at its rivals.
Its earnings within the quarter were $6.7 billion, up 111% from the $3.1 billion earned in the identical year-ago period. The outcomes lifted its full-year profits to $27.1 billion.
“We finished 2024 with a powerful fourth quarter,” said CEO Brian Moynihan, and “we consider this broad momentum sets up 2025 thoroughly for Bank of America.”
The bank’s brightest performance got here through its Wall Street operations, following a rebound of dealmaking across the industry after a two-year-long drought.
Bank of America investment banking fees rose 45%. Its trading division, meanwhile, rose 13.5% from the third quarter of 2023. Client activity swelled across the volatility of the US presidential election, producing $4.1 billion in revenue.
Strong Wall Street results helped other big banks within the fourth quarter, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC).
JPMorgan churned out more annual profits than it ever has before because it earned $14 billion in the ultimate quarter of 2024.
Its full-year profits rose to $58 billion, an all-time record for JPMorgan and probably the most ever within the history of American banking. Its fourth quarter profits were up 50% from the year-earlier period.
Goldman’s earnings within the fourth quarter jumped 105% to $4.1 billion, and its full-year profits jumped 68% to $14.2 billion. Its investment banking fees within the fourth quarter were up 24%.
Wells Fargo’s investment banking fees increased 59% within the fourth quarter compared with a 12 months earlier, and its fourth quarter earnings rose to $5.08 billion compared with $3.45 billion a 12 months earlier.
Many bankers hope the dealmaking revival will proceed in 2025 because the GOP takes over Washington.
The stocks of the most important US lenders rallied following the election of Donald Trump on hopes that his administration would loosen some rules and apply more leniency in approving corporate mergers.
The Trump administration is anticipated to scrap or revise a set of proposed capital rules that might have crimped future industry profits.
And all of the large bank stocks rallied again Wednesday following the beginning of earnings season.
David Hollerith is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance covering banking, financial institutions the cryptocurrency space. Follow him on X at @DsHollers.
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