Bank of America
FinancialsA large US consumer and business bank
$38.90 +0.50% today · Market cap $290B
Step 1 · The business
What does it do?
Bank of America takes deposits, makes loans, and runs Merrill, a wealth management and investment bank.
How it makes money
Share of yearly revenue
Step 2 · The case for
Why might investors care?
What people like about it, then how the business is doing — each number in plain words.
- Large base of low-cost customer deposits
How it's doing
Revenue growth
Sales grew 3% over the past year.
Large companies often grow 3–10% a year.
Profit margin
It keeps about $26 of profit from every $100 of sales.
Varies by industry: retailers ~3%, software 30%+.
Price / earnings (P/E)
Investors pay $12 for each $1 of yearly profit.
The S&P 500 average is around 20–25×.
Dividend yield
Pays about $2.50 a year for every $100 of stock.
Steady, mature companies often pay 2–4%.
Step 3 · The case against
What could go wrong?
The risks people point to, and how bumpy owning it can be.
- Interest-rate swings affect its bond holdings
Typical yearly swing
In a typical year the price might end ~28% above or below where it started.
The S&P 500 swings about 17% a year.
If the market fell 15%
A broad 15% fall would move BAC about 15% in MAVEST's scenario model.
A learning scenario, not a forecast.
Debt level
Borrows heavily relative to its size (normal for banks).
Step 4 · Your turn
Before you decide
Questions worth answering for yourself — there are no right answers.
- 1If you already own Financials companies, does this add something new — or more of the same?
In your portfolio
You haven't built a practice portfolio yet. Thinking this through starts one, or open Portfolio Lab.
Starts the Decision Coach · practice money · you choose the amount
Price history
Simulated history on mock data. A price move alone isn't a reason to decide.
$38.90+0.50% today
+15.82% over 1Y · Market cap $290B
What others are thinking
Reasoning shared by other learners — not tips.
No one has shared research on BAC yet. Yours could be the first.
Others in Financials