BAC · Q1 2026 Earnings

Bullish

Bank of America

Reported April 15, 2026

30-second summary

30-second take: Q1 revenue of $30.27B (+7.2% YoY) and diluted EPS of $1.11 (basic $1.12) cleared the bar, with NII at +9.0% YoY beating the prior +7% Q1 guide by ~200bps and expenses at +4.3% YoY in-line with the +4% guide — driving ~290bps of operating leverage, well above the 200bps FY framework. ROTCE printed 16.00% (+203bps QoQ from 13.97%), a clean step-up alongside ROAA rising 10bps QoQ to 0.99%. The binding Total Capital ratio (Standardized) eased 20bps QoQ to 14.5% as deployment continued; CET1 Standardized eased 20bps to 11.2%.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q1 FY2026

$1.12

Revenue

Q1 FY2026

$30.27B

+7.2% YoY

Key financials

Q1 FY2026

Metric	Q1 FY2026	YoY	Q4 FY2025	QoQ
Revenue	$30.27B	+7.2%	$28.37B	+6.7%
EPS	$1.12	—	$0.98	+14.3%

Guidance

Q1 FY2026 results tracked guidance with NII and expense growth in-line; full-year FY2026 guidance not formally provided this quarter, only qualitative outlook.

Guidance is issued for the full year only, refreshed each quarter. Prior and new below are the same FY updated this quarter.

Actuals vs prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	Actual	Δ	Result
Net Interest Income	Q1 FY2026	Expected to grow roughly 7% from Q1 2025	7.2% YoY revenue growth (primary revenue driver NII)	in-line with 7% YoY guidance	Met
Non-Interest Expense	Q1 FY2026	Expected to be about 4% higher than Q1 2025	Actual expenses ~4% higher YoY	in-line with 4% guidance	Met

Segment performance

Q1 FY2026

Segment	Q1 FY2026	YoY
Consumer Banking	$11.049B	+5.3%
Global Wealth & Investment Management	$6.712B	+11.6%
Global Banking	$6.287B	+5.0%
Global Markets	$7.109B	+8.1%

Capital & returns

Q1 FY2026

Segment	Q1 FY2026
Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio (Advanced)	12.5%
Tier 1 Capital Ratio (Advanced)	14.1%

Other KPIs

Q1 FY2026

Segment	Q1 FY2026
Net Interest Margin (FTE basis)	2.07%
Efficiency Ratio	60.89%
Return on Average Assets	0.99%
Return on Average Common Shareholders' Equity	11.95%
Total Deposits	$2,037.7 billion
Assets Under Management (GWIM)	$2,115.8 billion

Management tone

No tone-shift analysis available for this quarter.

Recurring themes management leaned on this quarter:

Organic growth engine with defensible moats despite appearing incrementalNII normalization driving earnings and efficiency improvements more than expense reductionAI as process re-engineering tool with untapped upside in back-office functionsRegulatory relief (levered lending, G-SIB recalibration) enabling market share captureCapital deployment strategy pivoting on regulatory G-SIB outcomes rather than absolute targetsWealth management inflection requiring talent investment alongside organic initiatives

Risks management surfaced:

Labor availability tightening, especially in services and construction sectorsMacro 'existential issues' including kinetic wars, rate structure misalignment, hyperinflation and debt levelsConsumer balance sheets still elevated but reliance on continued spending may not persist indefinitelyRegulatory uncertainty on G-SIB recalibration and Basel III finalization blocking capital deployment decisionsCommercial real estate recovery still nascent and dependent on well-structured deal environment

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Q1 2026 NII actual vs. the +7% YoY guide — NII grew +9.0% YoY, beating the guide by ~200bps. Credibility on the first explicit Q1 guide was over-delivered.

Resolved positively

Q1 2026 expense growth vs. the +4% YoY guide — Non-interest expense growth came in at +4.3% YoY, in-line with the guide. Combined with the NII beat, Q1 operating leverage ran at ~290bps, well above the 200bps FY framework.

Resolved positively

Global Banking revenue trajectory — Segment revenue at $6.29B, +4.9% YoY, with IB fees +23.6% YoY and business lending +7.8% YoY.

Resolved positively

Binding capital ratio trajectory — Q1 binding Total Capital Standardized eased 20bps QoQ to 14.5% (from 14.7%); CET1 Standardized also down 20bps to 11.2%. Deployment story remains intact, second consecutive quarter of drawdown.

Continue monitoring

Efficiency ratio breaking below 61% — Q1 FTE efficiency ratio of 60.89% cleared the 61% bar; GAAP efficiency of 61.22% did not. Disclosure basis matters here. Status: Resolved positively on FTE basis; mixed on GAAP

What to watch into next quarter

Q2 NII trajectory — with FTE NIM compressing 1bp QoQ in Q1, watch whether Q2 NII still tracks above the FY 5–7% range or starts converging toward the midpoint.

Reaffirmation (or refresh) of FY2026 NII, 200bps operating leverage, and ~20% tax-rate guides — the Q1 print is tracking ahead of all three; watch whether management raises the FY framework on the next call.

GWIM revenue sustaining above +11% YoY — segment momentum is the clearest acceleration story in the franchise; watch whether AUM rebuilds after the -$82.3B Q1 market valuation drag.

Binding Total Capital (Standardized) trajectory — a third consecutive quarterly drawdown would extend the deployment narrative.

Global Markets revenue trajectory — Q1 came in at +8.0% YoY with market-making revenue $3.72B vs $3.62B prior year; watch whether trading sustains.

Investment banking fees — Total IB fees of $1.84B (+20.9% YoY) with advisory the standout; watch sustainability of the advisory rebound into Q2.

Sources

Bank of America Q1 2026 Earnings Press Release / Supplemental, 15 April 2026 — https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/70858/000007085826000222/bac-03312026ex993.htm
Tapebrief Q4 2025 BAC brief, 14 January 2026 (prior-quarter guidance baseline and watch list).
Tapebrief Q3 2025 and Q2 2025 BAC briefs (multi-quarter narrative arc).

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