Bank of America's CEO Just Warned Wall Street: The Good Times Are Slowing Down

A few months ago, Bank of America was celebrating one of its best quarters in years. This week, its CEO delivered a considerably more sober outlook.

Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, told analysts Monday at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference that the bank expects investment banking fees to fall by more than 10% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, while sales and trading revenue is projected to come in roughly flat. The forecast marks a sharp reversal from Bank of America's second quarter, when investment banking fees jumped 50% and trading revenue climbed 33%.

Moynihan projected third-quarter investment banking revenue landing somewhere between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion, down from $2 billion in the same quarter last year — a decline of roughly 10% to 20%. Citing Dealogic data, he framed the slowdown as an industry-wide pattern rather than something specific to Bank of America: "What we're seeing is the market generally in investment banking is down 10% or so," he said, adding that the bank's particular mix of business lines means it could see a steeper decline than the broader market average.

Markets reacted immediately and sharply. Bank of America shares dropped more than 5% in afternoon trading following the comments, dragging the broader S&P 500 banking index down 2.7%. The ripple effect extended across Wall Street, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley shares falling 4% and 3% respectively the same session.

Moynihan was careful to separate the dealmaking slowdown from any broader concern about consumer financial health, noting separately that consumer credit quality remains solid — suggesting the pullback is concentrated specifically in corporate advisory and trading activity, not a sign of stress spreading into everyday banking.

The timing carries some broader context, too. The pullback follows a sharp unwind in AI-related stocks and trading activity earlier this year, as investors grew more cautious about steep valuations tied to the ongoing AI infrastructure buildout — a dynamic that appears to be cooling some of the deal and trading momentum that had fueled Wall Street's stronger results earlier in 2026.

For Bank of America specifically, Moynihan struck a note of cautious reassurance even amid the weaker forecast, pointing out that the underlying deal pipeline remains healthy — the slowdown, in his framing, is more about timing and market conditions than a structural decline in demand for the bank's advisory services.

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