By Katherine Doherty | Updated on Jun 09, 2026 at 04:18 PM
Bank of America Corp.’s trading desk is seeing momentum gaining steam, with revenue trending higher than the 15% increase the bank forecast last month, according to co-President Jim DeMare.
“I think we’re going to be a little better than that,” DeMare said Tuesday at the Morgan Stanley financial-services conference.
Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said at the end of May that second-quarter revenue from sales and trading was likely to be about 15% higher than a year ago. DeMare said the markets division has been trending up since that projection, specifically because of strength in the stock-trading business.
“Growth has definitely been equity-driven,” said DeMare, who was previously head of the markets unit and was tapped as co-president alongside Dean Athanasia in September.
Investment-banking activity is also in “pretty good shape,” with consistent dialogue around mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings despite geopolitical uncertainties that remain, according to the executive.
“Activity remains robust,” he said.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company laid out several financial targets last year aimed at raising revenue and lowering the firm’s efficiency ratio across business lines. Net interest income, which accounts for more than half of the firm’s revenue, could increase by a percentage at the higher end of the bank’s 6% to 8% target for the full year, Moynihan said last month.
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