CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ Bank of America Corp. (BAC) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter profit of $5.47 billion.

The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said it had earnings of 59 cents per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 56 cents per share.

The nation's second-largest bank posted revenue of $21.31 billion in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $20.1 billion, which missed Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $20.4 billion.

Bank of America shares have increased nearly 9% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has stayed nearly flat. The stock has decreased nearly 5% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BAC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BAC

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