Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) shares rose 2% in pre-market after it reported a smaller drop than expected in third-quarter profit.
Earnings per share of $0.81 were down from $0.90 in the same quarter last year but were higher than the $0.77 cents average estimate from Wall Street.
Revenue, net of interest expense, came in at $25.3 billion, an increase of $178 million from a year ago that reflected higher asset management and investment banking fees, but lower net interest income (NII). This was slightly ahead of analyst forecasts.
NII fell 3% to $14 billion in the third quarter from a year earlier but was up 2% from the second quarter of this year.
CEO Brian Moynihan felt it was a "solid" set of numbers, noting growth in investment banking, asset management and trading revenue.
It was the fifth consecutive quarter of sequential average growth in customer deposits, he added, while net interest income also increased, "complimented by double-digit, year-over-year growth in investment banking and asset management fees, as well as sales and trading revenue".