Bank of America Corporation

Reported quarter figures were strong across the board: revenue was $31.6 billion, up 15% year over year; net income was $9.1 billion, up 27%; and EPS was $1.21, up 34%. FTE net interest income was approximately $16.2 billion, up 9% year over year and $253 million sequentially, while non-interest income grew 22%. The efficiency ratio improved to 59%, operating leverage was 6.6%, and return on tangible common equity was 17%. Average deposits were $2.02 trillion, up $49 billion or 2.5% year over year, and average loans and leases were $1.2 trillion, up $88 billion or 8%. Provision expense was about $1.4 billion and net charge-offs were also $1.4 billion; CET1 was 11.2%, and the firm returned $8 billion to shareholders. For the full year, management now expects 2026 NII growth at the upper end of the 6%-8% range and full-year operating leverage of 300-400 basis points.

Brian Moynihan framed the quarter as another example of broad-based, organic growth across all businesses, with every segment contributing, improving efficiency, and generating operating leverage. He emphasized the firm’s scale, diversified revenue mix, disciplined underwriting, and continued investment in technology and AI-enabled productivity, pointing to over 300 approved AI use cases and more than 400,000 prompts a day. His tone was confident and upbeat, repeatedly stressing that the company is well positioned for a constructive macro backdrop and a strong second half.

Alastair Borthwick focused on the balance sheet, NII, and capital discipline. He said average deposits were $2.02 trillion, loans and leases were $1.2 trillion, CET1 stayed at 11.2%, and ending assets were steady at $3.5 trillion; he also noted $800 billion of excess between cash and securities over loans. He raised full-year 2026 NII growth expectations to the upper end of 6%-8% and lifted full-year operating leverage guidance to 300-400 basis points, citing modest deposit growth, continued loan growth, fixed-rate asset repricing, and some balance sheet optimization, including paying down repo and institutional CDs over time.

Analysts pressed management on whether the NII guide was conservative, how deposit pricing held up versus peers, and what was driving the step-up in operating leverage guidance. Borthwick said the company is benefiting from deposit mix, particularly growth in operating accounts and non-interest-bearing balances, and that the second-half NII outlook mostly reflects tougher comps rather than a major change in the underlying trajectory. On operating leverage, management said the first half benefited from both higher NII and strong fee businesses, while AI may help both revenue and future efficiency; they also said they are not seeing a need to materially accelerate spending despite stronger growth. Questions also covered loan growth, markets NII, and credit; management said commercial loan growth remains broad-based, markets NII should be flattish to slightly down, and underwriting remains disciplined with no major signs of credit deterioration.