Bank of America Doubles Profit in Q1 After Big Reserve Release

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), the second largest bank by assets in the U.S., reported a profit this morning of $8.05 billion in the first quarter, or $0.86 earnings per diluted share, more than doubling its profit from the first quarter of 2020.

Total revenue of $22.8 billion in the quarter is only up slightly from the year-ago quarter. But profit and revenue both beat analysts' expectations.

As a result of an improving economic outlook, the bank also released $2.7 billion of reserves it had previously built up for potential loan losses. The reserves get released back onto the bank's income statement through a negative provision, which adds to earnings.

Source Fool.com