CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bank of America Corp. says its fourth-quarter profit fell nearly 18% to $5.47 billion from $6.99 billion a year earlier.

The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said Tuesday that it had earnings of 59 cents per share, down from 74 cents a year ago.

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 net of interest expense of $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 partially generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research.

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