Bank of America’s (BAC) fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as it benefitted from a Wall Street dealmaking revival that also lifted results at its rivals.
Its earnings in the quarter were $6.7 billion, up 111% from the $3.1 billion earned in the same year-ago period. The results lifted its full-year profits to $27.1 billion.
“We finished 2024 with a strong fourth quarter,” said CEO Brian Moynihan, and “We believe this broad momentum sets up 2025 very well for Bank of America.”
The bank’s brightest performance came 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 around the volatility of the US presidential election, producing $4.1 billion in revenue.
Strong Wall Street results helped other big banks in 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 as it earned $14 billion in the final quarter of 2024.
Its full-year profits rose to $58 billion, an all-time record for JPMorgan and the most ever in the history of American banking. Its fourth quarter profits were up 50% from the year-earlier period.
Goldman’s earnings in the fourth quarter jumped 105% to $4.1 billion, and its full-year profits jumped 68% to $14.2 billion. Its investment banking fees in the fourth quarter were up 24%.
Wells Fargo’s investment banking fees increased 59% in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, and its fourth quarter earnings rose to $5.08 billion compared with $3.45 billion a year earlier.
Many bankers hope the dealmaking revival will continue in 2025 as the GOP takes over Washington.
The stocks of the biggest 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 expected to scrap or revise a set of proposed capital rules that would have crimped future industry profits.
And all of the big bank stocks rallied again Wednesday following the start 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.
Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
