Brian Moynihan, chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp., listens during a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, April 10, 2019.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bank of America is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings before the opening bell Wednesday.
Here’s what Wall Street expects:
Earnings: 46 cents a share, a 34% decline from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv.
Revenue: $22.9 billion, a 1.1% decline from a year earlier.
Net Interest Margin: 2.24%, according to FactSet
Trading Revenue: Fixed Income $2.48 billion, Equities $1.39 billion
How will Bank of America fare in a zero interest rate environment?
That’s the question analysts have for Bank of America, considered the most interest-rate sensitive of the megabanks. They will be keen to hear how rates, which were slashed to zero by the Federal Reserve last month amid the coronavirus crisis, will impact the bank in 2020 and beyond.
Another question is how much the second-biggest U.S. lender after JPMorgan Chase has set aside for coming loan defaults, and how much those two headwinds will be offset by robust trading results.
On Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo both posted sharp drops in first-quarter profit as the banks set aside a combined $10 billion for a coming deluge of loan defaults. At JPMorgan, the hits were partly offset by record quarterly trading revenue.
Bank stocks have been pummeled this year as the pandemic put an end to the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. Investors have sold shares in anticipation that the industry will bear the brunt of loan defaults from retail customers to big corporate clients.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.