BAC's Push to Expand Financial Centers: A Catalyst for Growth?

Bank of America BAC, one of the biggest lenders in the United States, has been aggressively expanding its financial center network as part of a broader strategy to solidify customer relationships and tap into new markets. Despite almost 90% of client interactions now occurring digitally, the company continues to align its financial centers according to customer needs.

Bank of America currently offers banking services to nearly 250 million individuals in more than 200 markets, representing approximately 82% of the U.S. population. It has embarked on an ambitious expansion plan to open financial centers in new and existing markets. This year, it plans to open 40 new financial centers and another 110 by 2027. As of March 31, 2025, BAC had 3,651 financial centers.

Since 2016, BAC has spent more than $5 billion on its financial centers network and added 471 centers to its existing markets. Further, it completed the renovation of more than 3,000 financial centers by 2024, with plans to complete more than 500 additional renovations over the next two years.

These initiatives, along with the success of the person-to-person money transfer system — Zelle — and the digital financial assistant — Erica — will enable BAC to improve digital offerings and cross-sell several products, including mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. 

Driven by the financial center expansion plan, Bank of America is expected to see an upside in net interest income (NII) over time. Also, this year, given the financial center expansion plan, decent loan demand, higher-for-longer interest rates and robust deposit balance, the company’s NII is projected to rise 6-7%.

US Banks With the Biggest Branch Network

JPMorgan JPM, the biggest bank in the country (with 4,975 branches), is expanding its physical footprint despite the rise of mobile banking. It plans to open more than 500 new branches by 2027. This move will solidify its position as the bank with a presence in all 48 U.S. states. JPMorgan is also committed to renovating existing locations by 2027 to serve its customers better.

Wells Fargo WFC has the second-largest branch network in the country, with more than 4,200 branches as of March 31, 2025. The bank is investing in its branch network and upgrading digital tools to augment the customer experience. Wells Fargo plans to update all the branches in the next five years, having already upgraded 730 in 2024.

BAC’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of Bank of America have risen 5.6% in the past three months. Meanwhile, JPMorgan rose 5.8%, and Wells Fargo was up 2% in the same time frame.

Three-Month Price Performance
 

From a valuation standpoint, Bank of America trades at a 12-month trailing price-to-tangible book (P/TB) of 1.68X, below the industry. Also, it is inexpensive compared with JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, which have a P/TB of 2.82X and 1.90X, respectively.

P/TB Ratio
 

Moreover, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Bank of America’s 2025 and 2026 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 12.2% and 15.3%, respectively. In the past month, earnings estimates for 2025 have moved marginally upward, while 2026 estimates have remained unchanged.

Earnings Estimates
 

Bank of America currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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