Is Bank of America Stock a Buy Now?
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is Warren Buffett's favorite bank and has been for years, despite Berkshire Hathaway selling some of its shares last year. It's now fallen to become the company's third-largest position, accounting for 10.1% of its equity portfolio, and investors shouldn't think there's lost love between Buffett and BofA. But is Bank of America stock right for you after it's fallen about 6% this year?
Bank of America is the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, and it's mostly known for its strong consumer business. That's been a benefit for the company in the high-interest-rate environment as more people take advantage of higher-rate deposit accounts. High interest rates are typically seen as a disadvantage for banks because more borrowers tend to default on their loans. But the flip side is that banks can make more money on customer deposits by making loans at higher rates, and this has been working out quite nicely for Bank of America. It added 1.1 million new consumer checking accounts in 2024 and 4 million credit cards, and consumer investment assets increased 22% to $518 billion.
Its global wealth segment is also performing well, with 24,000 new clients in its Merrill Edge business and 115,000 new bank accounts. It ended the year with $4.3 trillion in client balances, up 12% year over year, and assets under management of $79 billion, up 52%.
Source Fool.com
