Bank of America (pleasant) surprise

BOA

Bank of America shares jumped after the bank beat Wall Street’s profit projections despite a steep write down on its investment in payment processor First Data. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank made 56 cents a share in the third quarter. Excluding the one-time charge, the bank’s profit in the quarter was $7.5 billion, or 75 cents a share.

Bank of America had to write off the value of its First Data partnership after First Data was acquired by Fiserv earlier this year. Both companies do payment processing for merchants at the point-of-sale. Like other bank executives this quarter, BofA CEO Brian Moynihan appeared to be less optimistic in his comments about the economy.