Investing.com - Bank of America (N:BAC), the second largest U.S. bank, reported better than expected third quarter earnings and revenue ahead of Wednesday’s opening bell, sending its shares higher in pre-market trade.
Bank of America said it earned 37 cents per share in the three months ending September 30, above forecasts for earnings per share of 33 cents and compared to a loss of 4 cents a share a year ago.
The bank’s third quarter revenue totaled $20.91 billion, beating estimates for revenue of $20.77 billion but down from sales of $21.43 billion in the same period a year earlier. This was largely driven by higher negative market-related adjustments on the company's debt securities portfolio due to lower long-term interest rates
Net interest income was $9.7 billion in the third quarter, down 7%, or $702 million, from the year-ago quarter. Excluding the impact of market-related adjustments, net interest income was $10.3 billion, compared to $10.0 billion in the prior quarter and $10.5 billion in the year-ago quarter
The decline from the third quarter of 2014 was driven by lower consumer loan balances and lower yields, partially offset by commercial loan growth and lower long-term debt balances.
"We saw solid results this quarter by continuing to execute our long-term strategy," said Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan.
Moynihan added, "The key drivers of our business -- deposit taking and lending to both our consumer and corporate clients -- moved in the right direction this quarter and our trading results on behalf of clients remained fairly stable in challenging capital markets conditions."
Following the release of the report, shares in BAC rose 0.65% in pre-market trade to trade at $15.63 from Tuesday's closing price of $15.52.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets was little changed. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 0.01%, the S&P 500 futures tacked on 0.01%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures shed 0.1%.