Bank of America Q3 2026: A $1.2 Billion Penalty Breaks a Six-Quarter Win Streak
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on October 14, 2026.
A $1.2 billion non-deductible settlement with the OCC and FinCEN over anti-money-laundering failures ended a six-quarter streak of beating estimates, with both profit and revenue missing expectations. Underneath it, net interest income rose 8% and average loans grew 6%, so the damage sits in a one-time charge.
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Bank of America's third quarter ended a run of six consecutive beats in the most abrupt way possible: a $1.2 billion non-tax-deductible regulatory settlement tied to anti-money-laundering and economic sanctions failures under consent orders from the OCC and FinCEN. The charge is what separates a quarter that would have likely cleared estimates from one that missed on both profit and revenue.
EPS came in at $1.08 against the $1.11 consensus, missing expectations. The settlement alone reduced GAAP EPS by $0.17 per share, and stripping it out leaves the underlying business near the beat territory investors had grown used to.
Underneath the charge, the fundamentals held up: net interest income rose 8% and average loans grew 6%, the tenth consecutive quarter of sequential average loan growth across every business segment. The credit card charge-off rate improved for the sixth consecutive quarter year-over-year.
Rates now drive the earnings trajectory. Based on conditions as of September 30, 2026, a 100-basis-point upward shift in the forward rate curve adds approximately $1.4 billion in net interest income over the next twelve months, while a downward shift of the same magnitude cuts NII by roughly $1.9 billion.
CEO Brian Moynihan pointed to commercial lending growth across every client segment and to more than 200,000 employees now using AI tools companywide. The bank returned $8.3 billion to shareholders in the quarter, signaling management's confidence in the balance sheet despite the regulatory hit.