Why Shares of Western Alliance Are Up Today

Shares of Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE: WAL) climbed more than 10% on Friday following the regional lender's first-quarter earnings announcement. Western Alliance, as expected, is feeling the pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the bank appears to be holding up pretty well.

After markets closed Thursday, the bank reported first-quarter earnings of $0.83 per share, beating the $0.71 consensus, despite revenue that at $285.4 million came in about $1 million below expectations.

The earnings number would have been higher if not for Western Alliance boosting its provision for credit losses, but the bank is hardly alone in taking that step. Western Alliance said nonperforming assets accounted for 0.33% of total assets in the first quarter, up from 0.26% during the same three months of 2019.

Source Fool.com