Bank of America Corp (BAC) Is Falling: Here’s Why

Buckle up, Fools. The last few weeks have been a real roller coaster ride not just for Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) but for its big-four brethren, too. And if the start of the day’s trading is any indication, it looks like the ride is going to continue.

Big-four roundup
Here’s a look at where B of A and its peers are shaking out as the market opens:

Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is already down 1.54%.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) is down 1.80%.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) is down 1.84%.

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) is down 0.75%.

Long-term thinking, knee-jerk reaction?
Two weeks ago today, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) released its first-quarter earnings. To the surprise of many, including this B of A bear, earnings were overall good and contained some real highlights: like revenue growth of 5% year over year, while banks like JPMorgan and Wells Fargo reported year-over-year revenue declines. Everyone likes net-income growth, but when it comes solely from cost-cutting, it’s not sustainable.

Yet Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) missed analyst expectations for earnings-per-share by $0.02, which sent B of A and the rest of the big four into a tailspin. They all recovered eventually, but it’s been a bumpy, up-one-day-down-the-next kind of ride. Today it looks like the bump will be down, and it will be a big one.

Is there anything else going on with B of A that might be sending its share price down? The superbank did announce a dividend increase yesterday — of $0.01 per share. Maybe investors feel insulted and are driving the share price down today as a result. If they do, perhaps they should feel buoyed instead.

Rather than returning capital to shareholders, which always curries favor, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is holding onto its capital and strengthening its balance sheet. Citi CEO Michael Corbat pulled a similar move recently for his bank, in the wake of a strong 2013 stress-test performance, and it’s one I applaud him for. This is the kind of long-term thinking B of A and Citi need, if they’re ever to fully recover from their financial-crisis travails.

Of course, B of A’s downward path today may be nothing more than the normal short-term gyrations that are a part of any market’s short-term operation. Just keep your eye on the long term, Fools, and you’ll come out ahead in the end.

The article Why Bank of America Is Crashing — Yet Again — Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor John Grgurich owns shares of Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. Follow John’s dispatches from the bleeding heart of capitalism on Twitter @TMFGrgurich. The Motley Fool recommends Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

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