Bank of America tops estimates as CEO Brian Moynihan says consumer banking is 'healthy'

Bank of America the nation's second-largest lender, beat on the top and bottom lines during the first quarter, bolstered by equities sales and trading.

Here's what the firm reported Wednesday, compared with Wall Street estimates compiled by LSEG:

Bank of America's reported EPS marked its highest in almost two decades.

Equities trading contributed to the beat, as the geopolitical environment roiled stock markets. That unit was up 30%, driving all sales and trading to its best quarter in 15 years. Investment banking also beat and was up 21%.

Net interest income, the profitability metric for loan-making, increased by 9% to $15.9 billion and beat as well. That was due to higher loan and deposit balances, fixed-rate asset repricing and markets activity.

"We remain watchful of evolving risks. However, we saw healthy client activity, including solid consumer spending and stable asset quality, indicating a resilient American economy," Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in a release.

The net-charge-off ratio, showing what proportion of total loans were deemed unable to be collected, improved 6 basis points during the quarter to 0.48%. The firm's consumer banking and global wealth divisions each gained more than 20% in revenue.

Return on tangible common equity, a measure of profitability, was 16%, a more than 200 basis point improvement.

Correction: Bank of America guided to net interest income growth of between 5% and 7% this year. A previous version of this article misstated the range.