Barclays Reviews Bank Of America's Earnings

In a report published Thursday, Barclays analyst Jason M. Goldberg maintained an Equal-Weight rating on

, with a price target of $19, after the company reported improved expense and loan growth in 2Q. Bank of America announced its 2Q15 EPS at $0.45, ahead of the consensus expectation of $0.36. "A number of onetime items added roughly $0.10 to EPS, though some were included in expectations," analyst Jason Goldberg said. The company's operating revenues rose 1 percent y/y and 4 percent sequentially. Excluding market related NII, revenues were down from the prior quarter. In the report Barclays noted, "While bottom-line results in 2Q15 benefited from several one-time gains, loan growth improvement (first quarter of sequential loan growth on a period end basis since 2Q13) and controlled expenses (core -5%) were the highlights." While Bank of America's core NIM continued to decline, there was an increase of $1bn in criticized commercial loans, driven by oil & gas. The company posted a 0.99 percent ROA, 8.75 percent ROE, and 12.78 percent ROTCE. "Still, looking out, it will need to replace the gains that were used in 2Q15 to help achieve these figures with continued loan growth, better core NIM performance and further efficiency gains," Goldberg wrote. The EPS estimate for 2015 has been raised from $1.30 to $1.40 to reflect the quarterly beat and continued cost control. The EPS estimate for 2016 has been raised from $1.55 to $1.60 to reflect the company's reduced expense base.