New York, January 5, 2026, 19:47 EST — After-hours
- Bank of America shares closed up 1.7% at $56.89 and were little changed after hours.
- Barclays raised its price target on the lender to $71 and reiterated an overweight rating.
- Investors are lining up big-bank earnings and Friday’s U.S. jobs report as the next catalysts.
Bank of America Corp shares rose 1.68% to close at $56.89 on Monday and were little changed in after-hours trading.
The move matters because investors have been rotating into U.S. financials ahead of the first wave of quarterly bank results, with rate expectations back in the spotlight. Bank stocks tend to trade on the outlook for lending demand, credit losses and the path of interest rates.
For Bank of America, the next test is whether the economy stays firm enough to support loan growth while pressure eases on funding costs. Traders will also watch net interest income — the spread between what a bank earns on loans and pays on deposits — for signs margins are stabilizing.
Wall Street’s rally on Monday gave the sector a tailwind, with financial shares among the strongest performers as the Dow hit a record and investors looked toward upcoming quarterly reports, Reuters reported. Markets are pricing about 60 basis points of rate easing this year, or 0.60 percentage point, according to LSEG, a key swing factor for bank profitability. “The mood has been favoring financial stocks in recent days,” said Steve Sosnick, chief market analyst at Interactive Brokers. 1
Barclays raised its price target on Bank of America to $71 from $59 and kept an overweight rating as part of its 2026 outlook for large-cap banks, according to a report carried by GuruFocus. 2
On Monday’s tape, Bank of America traded between $55.68 and $57.54, putting those levels on the chart for the next session. A push back through the day’s high would extend the latest momentum, while a break below the session low would unwind much of it.
Separately, a U.S. securities filing on Monday showed BofA Finance LLC filed a preliminary term sheet for market-linked notes, a routine form of structured debt issuance that is typically more relevant to funding and investor products than the common stock. 3
The risk is that the upbeat bid for banks fades if macro data forces a rethink on rates or credit. A hotter-than-expected run of inflation or hiring data can reset expectations for the Federal Reserve and pressure valuations across rate-sensitive stocks.
Investors’ next macro checkpoints include the U.S. employment report for December, due Friday, January 9, and the consumer price index for December on Tuesday, January 13, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ release schedule. 4
For Bank of America stock, the next company-specific catalyst is its quarterly results on Wednesday, January 14, according to the bank’s investor relations calendar. Traders will be watching management’s read on consumer credit, deposit trends and the outlook for net interest income. 5
