Bank of America Corp. said Thursday that its profits had doubled in the first three months of the year.
The Charlotte, NC-based lender, earned $ 8.05 billion in its first quarter. That compares with $ 4.01 billion a year earlier, when banks hit their earnings hard to take on a rainy reserve at the start of the pandemic.
The bank earned 86 cents a share and predicted the 66 cents in a FactSet poll among analysts.
The earnings of the largest banks reflect the increased optimism about an economic recovery. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. said on Wednesday that they had both released money they had soaked away last year to cover widespread defaults.
Bank of America said it had released $ 2.7 billion from its reserves, which made the profit. The cost is lower than a year earlier.