Bank of America (BAC): FY2024 Income, Cash-Flow & Balance Sheet Deep Dive

Income-statement trends for [BAC] — revenue, margins and profitability#

Bank of America closed FY2024 with $192.43B in revenue (++11.93% year-over-year) and $27.13B in net income (++2.30% YoY), while gross, operating and net margins continued a multi-year compression from their 2021 peaks. Those headline figures come from the company’s FY2024 financial statements (filed 2025-02-25) and the dataset provided. The tension is immediate: revenue grew materially, but profitability on a margin basis has steadily eroded since 2021, leaving net income broadly flat relative to the rapid top-line expansion.

A year-by-year look shows the momentum and the squeeze. Revenue expanded from $93.85B in 2021 to $192.43B in 2024 — a three-year CAGR of +27.04% — yet net income fell from $31.98B in 2021 to $27.13B in 2024 (three-year CAGR -5.33%). Gross margin has fallen from 99.85% in 2021 to 49.92% in 2024, operating margin from 36.20% to 15.20%, and net margin from 34.07% to 14.10%, a pattern that signals rising cost-of-revenue and expense pressure relative to revenue growth.

The underlying drivers in the statements are concrete and require follow-up. Cost of revenue moved from a negligible base in 2021 (reported as $0.144B) to $96.37B in 2024, producing the largest single mechanical effect on gross margin. EBITDA has also declined as a percent of sales — from 38.22% (2021) to 16.34% (2024) — even while absolute EBITDA recovered slightly from 2023 to 2024. Those moves make FY2024 a story of strong revenue expansion paired with margin decompression and modest absolute net-income growth.

Cash-flow quality and conversion at [BAC]#

The most striking signal in FY2024 is the divergence between accounting profit and cash generation: despite $27.13B of net income, Bank of America reported negative operating cash flow of -$8.80B for the year. That disconnect is based on the company’s cash-flow statement for FY2024 (filed 2025-02-25). The operating-cash-to-net-income ratio swung from ++169.68% in 2023 to --32.45% in 2024 — a reversal that points to episodic balance-sheet management decisions rather than a steady cash conversion profile.

The cash-flow statement shows the proximate mechanics. Change in working capital in 2024 was - $48.55B, and investing activities consumed - $90.69B, while financing activities provided $60.37B. Free cash flow for 2024 is reported as - $8.80B (equal to the reported operating cash in the dataset), meaning the firm funded operating shortfalls and investing outflows largely through financing sources during the year.

Capital return activity is material relative to earnings. In FY2024 the company paid $9.50B in dividends and repurchased $18.36B of common stock (total distributions $27.86B), which equals +102.71% of FY2024 net income. That pattern — distributions roughly equal to or exceeding reported net income — amplifies the importance of cash-flow health because buybacks and dividends cannot be sustained without reliable cash generation or continued access to financing.

Balance-sheet changes and leverage analysis for [BAC]#

Bank of America’s balance sheet expanded modestly in FY2024: total assets rose to $3,261.52B (++2.56%** YoY)** while total liabilities increased to $2,965.96B (++2.68%** YoY), leaving stockholders’ equity at $295.56B (++1.34% YoY). The firm’s net debt climbed to $361.94B (++30.79% YoY)** — the single most important balance-sheet movement in 2024. All figures referenced are taken from the FY2024 balance-sheet lines in the reported financials.

A decomposition of the debt picture is revealing. Long-term debt actually fell from $302.20B (2023) to $283.28B (2024), a decline of -$18.92B, while total debt rose from $618.19B to $658.43B (++6.51%). The arithmetic implies a material increase in shorter-term debt and other non-long-term borrowings of roughly $59.16B, an internal re-duration that materially increases net-debt levels even with the long-term component down.

Leverage remains high in absolute terms, as expected for a large commercial bank, but the trend is upward on net-debt measures. Equity-to-assets (book) is 9.06% (295.56 / 3261.52), and the asset/equity multiplier (leverage) is 11.04x. Using net debt, net-debt-to-equity is 122.45% (361.94 / 295.56). Those calculated leverage measures rose meaningfully in 2024 and — combined with negative operating cash flow and large shareholder distributions — are the clearest indicators of increased funding and liquidity management activity on the balance sheet.

Calculated ratios: reconciliation, methodology and material differences#

Using the FY2024 statements and the market snapshot (price $47.71, market cap $353.39B from the dataset), a standardized set of market and performance ratios can be calculated. Price/earnings using the dataset EPS of $3.41 (stock quote EPS field) gives P/E = 13.99x (47.71 / 3.41). Using the dataset TTM net income per share $3.70 produces P/E = 12.90x (47.71 / 3.70). Price-to-book is 1.20x (353.39 / 295.56), price-to-sales is 1.84x (353.39 / 192.43), and enterprise value (EV) computed as market cap + total debt - cash and equivalents equals $715.33B; dividing EV by FY2024 EBITDA (31.44B) yields EV/EBITDA = 22.76x.

There are material discrepancies between the dataset’s ratio fields and these standardized calculations that must be flagged. The dataset reports EV/EBITDA = 13.81x, net-debt/EBITDA = 2.93x, and current ratio TTM = 15.07x; our computations (using the explicit line items in the financials) produce EV/EBITDA = 22.76x, net-debt/EBITDA = 11.51x, and a conventional current ratio of 0.30x (total current assets / total current liabilities). The divergence can arise from different base definitions (TTM versus FY, inclusion of broader cash equivalents, alternative definitions of EBITDA, or unit mismatches). Given those conflicts, this analysis prioritizes the explicit FY2024 line items (income statement, balance sheet, cash-flow statement) and the provided market capitalization when computing ratios.

Below are the most salient calculated metrics (FY2024) using the raw line items and market snapshot:

What this means for investors and stakeholders#

The core financial story in FY2024 is one of revenue growth that outpaced profit improvement and a balance-sheet-driven cash conversion shortfall. Revenue scales, margins compress, and cash from operations is volatile; those three realities together change how earnings quality should be judged. Investors and risk managers must treat FY2024 as a reminder that reported net income is incomplete without an understanding of cash conversion and funding sources used to sustain capital returns.

Practically, several monitoring signals follow directly from the numbers. First, watch operating cash flow and the change-in-working-capital line: the swing from +$44.98B (2023) to - $8.80B (2024) was driven primarily by a - $48.55B working-capital move and larger investing outlays. Second, track net-debt and the composition of debt: total-debt rose +6.51% YoY while long-term debt fell, implying more reliance on shorter-term wholesale funding. Third, distribution policy versus cash generation: FY2024 distributions equalled +102.71% of net income, a ratio that is sustainable only with reliable access to financing or a return to positive operating cash flows.

These implications are strictly data-driven. The revenue runway and franchise scale remain strengths, but FY2024 shows that growth alone is not sufficient to restore cash conversion or to counterbalance rising leverage. Any forward-looking assessment must therefore incorporate scenarios where cash generation normalizes, remains volatile, or deteriorates further — each path has a distinct impact on balance-sheet flexibility and capital allocation choices.

Key takeaways (featured snippet and concise summary)#

Featured snippet: [BAC] delivered $192.43B of revenue in FY2024 (++11.93%) with $27.13B net income, yet produced - $8.80B of operating cash flow while net debt rose to $361.94B. The principal signal is a profitable income statement paired with weak cash conversion and higher leverage.

In three bullets of inference from the data (narrative form): revenue growth remains robust and the firm’s scale is a core strength; margins have compressed materially since 2021, driven by a sharp rise in cost of revenue; and cash-flow volatility plus rising net debt are the dominant balance-sheet risks to monitor. These are observations drawn strictly from the FY2021–FY2024 statements and the market snapshot supplied.

Near-term watchers should focus on four ledger items: quarterly operating-cash flow and change-in-working-capital, the composition of short- versus long-term debt, quarterly disclosure around investing activities (securities and liquidity repositioning), and the company’s public commentary on capital-return plans versus observed distributions.

Conclusions#

Bank of America’s FY2024 reported results show a bank that is growing revenue at scale but facing meaningful margin compression and a deterioration in cash conversion. The three-year revenue CAGR is +27.04%, yet three-year net-income CAGR is negative (-5.33%), and operating-cash-generation moved from a strong positive in 2023 to - $8.80B in 2024. The apparent mismatch between accounting profitability and cash flow is the single most important fact from the statements.

Balance-sheet dynamics accentuate the story. Net debt rose to $361.94B (++30.79% YoY), total debt increased while long-term maturities declined, and shareholder distributions in 2024 were essentially funded alongside material financing activity. Those facts together increase sensitivity to funding-cost and liquidity shocks and make cash-flow disclosure and debt composition the most relevant near-term metrics for stakeholders.

Finally, dataset inconsistencies in a small set of pre-computed ratios require careful reconciliation: our standard calculations (EV/EBITDA, net-debt/EBITDA, current ratio) differ materially from certain reported TTM fields in the supplied dataset. For decision-grade analysis the recommended next step is a line-by-line reconciliation of definitions (EBITDA scope, cash definition, TTM aggregation) and a review of the management notes that explain large year-to-year classification changes (notably the jump in cost of revenue and the scale of investing outflows). The numbers themselves — not the narratives — point to cash conversion and leverage as the two issues that will determine balance-sheet optionality for [BAC] in the near term.