Investing.com – Bank of America and Goldman Sachs rallied on Wednesday, boosting financials, as both Wall Street banks delivered blowout earnings.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results as earnings of $0.70 a share on revenue of $22.74 billion topped estimates for $0.63 a share on revenue of $22.36 billion. Its shares rose more than 7%.
The bank's earnings growth was bolstered by share buybacks and revenue was driven higher by strong consumer banking revenue.
The fixed-income business, however, took some of the gloss off the upbeat quarterly report as revenue fell 15% to $1.45 billion, below expected sales of $1.62 billion, following the market rout in December.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) also delivered a beat on the both the top and bottom lines owing to strength in its investment banking and lending divisions, sending its shares 5% higher.
The bank reported earnings of $6.04 a share on revenue of $8.08 billion, handily beating estimates for $4.42 a share on revenue of $7.59 billion.
Goldman’s revenue beat was underpinned by its investing and lending division, which saw revenue swell to $1.91 billion, easily beating expectations for $1.35 billion.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), meanwhile, shrugged off a dour fourth-quarter report, which missed both earnings and revenue estimates as the wild swings in markets dented its asset base. Its shares gained more than 4%.
BlackRock's total assets under management fell to $5.98 trillion, down from $6.44 trillion at the end of the third quarter.
"We had about a 5% decay in our asset base, not because of outflow, but because the market fell,” CEO Larry FinkFink said.
The bullish start to the new year, however, bolstered BlackRock's asset base as Fink told CNBC that the company's assets under management had jumped back above $6 trillion.
The banking sector is up more 9% for the month as it attempts to claw back losses of 20% over the past year.