BofA Profit, Revenue Top Forecasts; Shares Jump

Bank of America reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street’s expectations on Thursday, sending its shares sharply higher in premarket trading.

The company posted first-quarter earnings excluding items of 31 cents per share, up from 17 cents a share in the year-earlier period.

Revenue was $22.8 billion, slighly lower than its $26.88 billion in revenue from a year ago.

Analysts had expected the company to report earnings excluding items of 12 cents a share on $22.51 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

After the earnings announcement, the company’s shares rose by more than 5 percent in trading before the opening bell.