Here comes Bank of America ...
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is set to announce first-quarter earnings results Monday morning.
Analysts are expecting the bank to report adjusted earnings per share of $0.59, a nearly 42% increase from last year.
Here's what else to look out for:
- Revenue: $23 billion, up 1.9% from last year.
- Adjusted net income: $6.2 billion, up 39.6% from last year.
- Volatility's impact on markets revenues: After a moribund 2017 in which low volatility sapped trading desks across Wall Street, the markets saw a jolt of energy in the first quarter, whipsawing back and forth on account of, among other things, fears of the US stoking a trade war. Both JPMorgan and Citigroup posted a strong performance in equities revenues in particular when they reported first quarter results on Friday.
- M&A: There was $1.2 trillion of M&A in the first quarter, an all-time high. How much did Bank of America's investment bank benefit?
- Steinhoff investigation: Scandal-plagued South African retailer Steinhoff International blew a hole through Wall Street earnings last quarter as a margin loan went belly up. Bank of America has been investigating how the loan resulted in a $292 million loss for the bank.
JPMorgan and Citigroup announced first-quarter earnings on Friday, with both beating solidly. The two banks also posted gains in markets revenue, with JPMorgan's markets revenue up 7% on an underlying basis and Citigroup's total markets and securities securities revenue up 3%.
Those gains were driven by equities revenue, with JPMorgan posting record equities revenue of $2 billion and Citigroup posting a 38% gain in equities revenue to $1.1 billion. Fixed income revenues in contrast were flat at JPMorgan, and down at Citigroup.