Bank Of America CEO Brian Moynihan Shares Outlook For 2024 At Davos

Bank of America Corporation BAC reported mixed fourth-quarter financial results at the end of last week and saw its quarterly revenue fall 10% year-over-year. CEO Brian Moynihan shared his outlook for 2024 following the print.

What To Expect In 2024: In a CNBC interview Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Moynihan said businesses have become more cautious amid higher interest rates and an anticipated economic slowdown, but he predicted that as the financial environment stabilizes, demand for commercial loans will recover. 

The Bank of America CEO also downplayed the risk of a crash in the commercial real estate market and explained that a decline in demand for corporate office space following the pandemic-fueled remote work movement is a "slow burn" that the system can handle in an orderly fashion.

"It's a little different than what we had in the financial crisis when the whole mortgage industry went kablooey overnight," Moynihan said.

Moynihan reiterated Bank of America's expectations for four interest rate cuts in 2024 bringing the Federal Reserve funds rate to around 3%, compared to the six or seven rate cuts that the market is anticipating. Modest interest rates near 3% are representative of a normal rate environment compared to the near-zero rates of the past 15 years, he said.

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The Bank of America CEO noted that it will take some time for the economy to adjust to a "normal" growth and inflation ratio and pointed to innovation and the corporations that invest in the future as the main drivers of the economy as opposed to the Fed.

"The Fed has got to get normalized and then get out of the way," Moynihan said.

BAC Price Action: Bank of America shares closed Wednesday down 0.97% at $31.81, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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