Bank of America beats Q3 Wall Street estimates as CEO focuses on costs in 'moderately growing economy'

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

• Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced its Q3 earnings on Wednesday morning and beat Wall Street expectations.

• "In a moderately growing economy, we focused on driving those things that are controllable," said CEO Brian Moynihan in the statement.

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Bank of America Merrill Lynch reported its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday and the bank beat Wall Street's expectations, despite a large impairment charge of $2.1 billion pre-tax.

BofA earnings per share beat expectations, as it posted a profit of $0.56 per share against the estimates of $0.51.

Shares of BofA rose in premarket rose 1.8% after the report.

"In a moderately growing economy, we focused on driving those things that are controllable," said CEO Brian Moynihan in the statement, emphasizing cost discipline.

"We made continued strong investments in our capabilities to serve customers, more relationship management teammates, more and refurbished branches and offices, and more digital capabilities, all while core expenses are flat."

"Our client activity, the expansion of our client base, and our ability to gain market share across most of our
businesses in the quarter, all reflect responsible growth," he added.

Here's a rundown of the key numbers.

• Adjusted net income: $5.8 billion versus the $5.8 billion estimate
• Earnings per share: $0.56 versus the $0.51 estimate
• Revenue: $22.8 billion versus the $22.76 billion estimate
• Expenses: $15.2 billion
• Sales and trading: Revenue of $3.2 billion including a net debit valuation adjustment losses of $15 million
• Equities: Increased 13% to $1.1 billion.
• FICC: "Stable at $2.1 billion."

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