Bank of America expects third-quarter investment banking fees to fall more than 10%; shares slide

Bank of America is seeing a far more subdued few months for its Wall Street advisory and trading businesses after a blockbuster second quarter, CEO Brian Moynihan told analysts Monday. Investment banking fees will likely decline by more than 10% in the third quarter from the year-earlier period, while trading revenue will be roughly flat, Moynihan said at a conference. That compares to a second quarter in which the bank posted a 50% jump in investment banking fees and a 33% jump in trading revenue. "What we're seeing is the market generally in investment banking is down 10%," Moynihan said, citing Dealogic data. "We're not as well positioned in some of the businesses that have more activity, so we'll be down probably a bit more than that." Bank of America shares were down 5% in afternoon trading Monday following Moynihan's comments. The muted outlook from the country's second-largest bank by assets could be an early signal that Wall Street's AI-fueled advisory and trading boom might have hit turbulence. While Moynihan pointed to a robust deal pipeline, particularly in middle-market investment banking, the projected double-digit decline in investment banking may make investors wonder if the industry's surge in capital markets activity will prove short-lived.