Bank of America shares fall on earnings miss

Bank of America (BAC) stock fell more than 2% in pre-market trading Thursday after the nation's second largest bank in assets reported disappointing fourth quarter results.

B of A reported a 9% drop in fourth-quarter earnings, in the process missing analysts' estimates on both profit and revenue.

The bank said it had net income of $3.1 billion, or 25 cents a share in the quarter, which was down from $3.4 billion, or 29 cents a share in the same period a year ago.

The results included adjustments that lowered per-share earnings by 7 cents, the bank said in a statement.

Roughly $720 million of the decline was due to lower gains from the sale of debt securities and equity investment income, as well as lower mortgage banking income and lower trading profits.

Revenue fell to $19 billion from $21.7 billion. The FactSet consensus was for earnings per share of 31 cents and revenue of $21.079 billion.

Bank of America shares have gained 1.9% in the last three months, while the S&P 500 has gained about 8%.

On Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), the biggest U.S. bank by assets, saw its shares tumble more than 4%, after the banking giant reported disappointing fourth quarter earnings.

Also on Wednesday, Wells Fargo posted solid fourth-quarter results, including revenue that beat Wall Street's expectations, up 2% from last year .

Legal expenses continue to be a source of angst at the nation's banks. JPMorgan's results include legal expenses of $990 million. In November, B of A tagged on an additional $400 million to its litigation reserves for the third quarter.