Bank of America Merrill Lynch crushes with record quarterly earnings as trading takes smaller hit than peers. (BAC)

Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced fourth-quarter earnings results Wednesday, handily beating expectations with $0.70 in adjusted earnings of per share and record net earnings of $7.3 billion.

Analysts had projected the bank to report adjust earnings of $0.63 per share.

Fixed-income trading revenues fell 15%, a smaller loss than peers Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase reported earlier this week.

Here are the highlights:

• Revenues: $22.7 billion, beating expectations of $22.4 billion.
• Adjusted net income: A record $7.3 billion, beating expectations of $6.3 billion, and up 208% from last year.
• Consumer banking: Net income rose 52% to $3.3 billion, while revenues increased 10% to $9.9 billion.
• Wealth management: Net income rose 43% to $1.1 billion, while revenues increased 7% to $5 billion.
• Investment banking: Fees fell 5% to $1.3 billion, driven by lower debt underwriting and advisory.
• Trading: Overall revenues down 6% to $2.5 billion. Fixed-income dropped 15% to $1.4 billion, while equities increased 11% to $1.1 billion.

“I am proud of our teammates who produced record earnings for the quarter and the year by driving responsible growth. Our teammates worked for our customers and delivered solid loan and deposit growth, and other activity, while managing risk well. Operating leverage based on disciplined expense management while investing in our future, solid asset quality, and loan and deposit growth drove this quarter’s results," CEO Brian Moynihan said in a statement. "In addition to lending and investing activities, we shared success in many ways: returning nearly $26 billion in capital to our shareholders; a second bonus since U.S. tax reform passed last year, impacting 95% of our teammates, to share success from our performance and the benefits of tax reduction; and more than $200 million of philanthropic giving to our communities.

Bank of America's 6% drop in overall sales and trading is modest compared with the losses reported at Citi and JPMorgan so far. 

Citigroup on Monday reported a 21% drop in fixed-income trading and 14% drop in trading overall. JPMorgan Chase posted its worst bond-trading results since the financial crisis.

"Bad volatility" wreaked havoc on the markets in December, and bank trading results have taken a hit as clients sat it out on the sideline for much of the fourth quarter. 

Goldman Sachs also reports earnings on Wednesday, and Morgan Stanley reports on Thursday.

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• Read more:
• Wall Street is bracing for an ugly earnings season — here's a breakdown of where banks are going to feel the pain
• Wild markets wreaked havoc on Citigroup's trading desks last quarter, and 'everything' took a hit
• JPMorgan just posted its worst bond trading results since the financial crisis

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