Bank of America shares slide over 6% as $1.2 billion fine depresses Q3 earnings

Bank of America’s stock fell more than 6% on Wednesday, marking its steepest one-day decline since April 2025 after the bank disclosed a $1.2 billion regulatory penalty that reduced its quarterly earnings.

The bank posted third-quarter net income of $6.93 billion, or $0.91 per share, below analysts’ expectation of $1.10 per share. Excluding the fine, earnings would have been $8.1 billion, or $1.08 per share. Revenue increased 3% to $30 billion, slightly under the $30.6 billion forecast.

U.S. regulators imposed the fine on the Charlotte, North Carolina-based institution for widespread shortcomings in its anti-money-laundering controls. CFO Alastair Borthwick said the bank has already allocated significant staff and technology resources to address the deficiencies, and that related spending is reflected in current operating expenses. He did not provide a timeline for the completion of the remediation process.

CEO Brian Moynihan noted that while investment-banking and sales-and-trading revenues declined, commercial lending grew across all client segments. He added that deposit growth, wealth-management inflows and consumer activity supported earnings, balance-sheet expansion and long-term shareholder value.

Net interest income rose 8% year over year to $16.4 billion, driven by higher loan and deposit balances. Investment-banking fees fell 11% to $1.8 billion but remained above forecasts, and fixed-income trading revenue dropped 17% to $2.6 billion, offset by an 11% rise in equities trading revenue to $2.5 billion.