Bank of America vs IBM: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Bank of America reported $113.1B of revenue in FY2025 and $30.5B of net income. IBM reported $67.5B of revenue in FY2025 and $10.6B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Bank of America
- Latest revenue
- $113.1B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $30.5B
- Net margin
- 27.0%
- Revenue growth
- +3.4% a year, FY2016–FY2025
IBM
- Latest revenue
- $67.5B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $10.6B
- Net margin
- 15.7%
- Revenue growth
- -1.9% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Financial summary
Bank of America
Bank of America earns in two streams. Net interest income was $60.1B in 2025 and noninterest income $53.0B, for total revenue net of interest expense of $113.1B and net income of $30.5B, or $3.81 per diluted share. Deposits of $2.02T funded $1.19T of loans and leases plus a $927.4B debt securities portfolio. Fees carried the year: investment and brokerage services rose $2.2B to $20.0B, investment banking fees rose to $6.6B, and market making fell $953M to $12.0B. Credit stayed contained, with the total consumer net charge-off ratio at 0.88 percent and the card ratio at 3.68 percent. The efficiency ratio improved to 61.65 percent from 63.12 percent, and common equity tier 1 capital was $201.4B, an 11.4 percent standardized ratio against a 10.0 percent minimum.
IBM
IBM's reported revenue fell from about $80 billion in 2016-2018 to $57.4 billion in 2021, mostly because the Kyndryl spin-off and earlier divestitures removed low-margin services. Since then the slimmer company has grown each year: $60.5 billion in 2022, $61.9 billion in 2023, $62.8 billion in 2024, and $67.5 billion in 2025 (up 7.6%). FY2025 net income from continuing operations was $10.6 billion and free cash flow was $14.7 billion. In Q2 2026, revenue rose 1% to $17.16 billion: software grew 5% to $7.76 billion, consulting was flat at $5.33 billion, and infrastructure fell 7% to $3.84 billion as IBM Z sales lapped the z17 launch. Some large software deals slipped out of the quarter, so IBM cut its 2026 constant-currency revenue growth forecast to 4-5% while keeping its target of about $1 billion more free cash flow than in 2025.
Revenue and profit by year
Bank of America
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $113.1B | $30.5B | 27.0% | +6.8% | Source |
| FY2024 | $105.9B | $27B | 25.5% | +3.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $102.8B | $26.3B | 25.6% | +8.2% | Source |
| FY2022 | $95B | $27.5B | 29.0% | +6.6% | Source |
| FY2021 | $89.1B | $32B | 35.9% | +4.2% | Source |
| FY2020 | $85.5B | $17.9B | 20.9% | -6.3% | Source |
| FY2019 | $91.2B | $27.4B | 30.1% | +0.2% | Source |
| FY2018 | $91B | $28.1B | 30.9% | +4.5% | Source |
| FY2017 | $87.1B | $18.2B | 20.9% | +4.1% | Source |
| FY2016 | $83.7B | $17.8B | 21.3% | — | Source |
IBM
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $67.5B | $10.6B | 15.7% | +7.6% | Source |
| FY2024 | $62.8B | $6B | 9.6% | +1.4% | Source |
| FY2023 | $61.9B | $7.5B | 12.1% | +2.2% | Source |
| FY2022 | $60.5B | $1.6B | 2.7% | +5.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | $57.4B | $5.7B | 10.0% | +3.9% | Source |
| FY2020 | $55.2B | $5.6B | 10.1% | -4.4% | Source |
| FY2019 | $57.7B | $9.4B | 16.3% | -27.5% | Source |
| FY2018 | $79.6B | $8.7B | 11.0% | +0.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | $79.1B | $5.8B | 7.3% | -1.0% | Source |
| FY2016 | $79.9B | $11.9B | 14.9% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Bank of America
- Net interest income~53%
Interest on loans and securities less interest paid on deposits and debt; $60.1B in 2025.
- Investment and brokerage services~18%
Asset management, brokerage and advisory fees, mostly from Merrill and the Private Bank; $20.0B in 2025.
- Market making and similar activities~11%
Global Markets trading revenue across rates, credit, currencies, commodities and equities; $12.0B in 2025.
- Investment banking fees~6%
Underwriting and advisory fees excluding self-led deals; $6.6B in 2025.
- Service charges~6%
Treasury service charges and consumer deposit account fees; $6.5B in 2025.
- Card income~6%
Interchange, annual fees and other credit and debit card income; $6.4B in 2025.
IBM
- Software~44%
Red Hat, automation, data and AI, transaction processing, security, and related software services.
- Consulting~31%
Technology consulting, business transformation, hybrid cloud implementation, and AI-enabled workflows.
- Infrastructure~23%
IBM Z, distributed infrastructure, storage, infrastructure software, maintenance, and related services.
- Financing~1%
Client financing and used equipment sales supporting enterprise technology deployments.
Business model and strategy
Bank of America
How it makes money
The model is a deposit-funded spread business layered with fee income. Consumer Banking gathers low-cost deposits and lends through mortgages, cards and auto loans, producing $43.7B of revenue in 2025 and $12.2B of net income. Global Wealth and Investment Management charges fees on $4.75T of client balances, including $2.18T of assets under management, for $24.9B of revenue.
Growth strategy
Growth comes from deepening existing relationships rather than buying banks. Consumer Banking adds clients through digital channels, with 49 million active digital users and 41 million mobile users at the end of 2025, while the branch network is consolidated slowly, down 72 to 3,628 centers during the year, and rebuilt in selected metropolitan markets.
Competitive advantage
Bank of America's advantage is cheap, sticky funding. It held $2.02T of deposits at December 31, 2025, much of it in transaction accounts, and the total deposit spread was 2.92 percent in 2025 against 2.77 percent in 2024.
IBM
How it makes money
IBM makes money from four segments. Software ($29.96 billion in FY2025, about 44% of revenue) includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux and OpenShift, HashiCorp Terraform and Vault, Confluent data streaming (from March 2026), watsonx AI, automation, security, and mainframe transaction-processing software, sold mostly as subscriptions and recurring licenses.
Growth strategy
IBM does not try to beat AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud at selling public cloud capacity. It sells the software layer that runs across all of them and across on-premises data centers.
Competitive advantage
IBM's main advantage is how deeply it is built into the core systems of large regulated organizations. Banks, card networks, insurers, and governments run high-volume transaction processing on IBM Z, and moving those workloads is slow, risky, and expensive.
Questions about Bank of America vs IBM
Which company has higher revenue — Bank of America Corporation or International Business Machines Corporation?
Bank of America Corporation reported $113.1B (FY2025), while International Business Machines Corporation reported $67.5B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Bank of America Corporation is the larger business, with International Business Machines Corporation reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Bank of America Corporation vs International Business Machines Corporation?
Bank of America Corporation's market capitalisation stands at $380.6B, while International Business Machines Corporation's is $216.3B. Bank of America Corporation carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to International Business Machines Corporation.
Which is more financially efficient — Bank of America Corporation or International Business Machines Corporation?
Bank of America Corporation generates $531k / employee in revenue per employee, while International Business Machines Corporation generates $256k / employee. Bank of America Corporation shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Bank of America Corporation and International Business Machines Corporation make money?
Bank of America Corporation and International Business Machines Corporation generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Bank of America Corporation: The model is a deposit-funded spread business layered with fee income. International Business Machines Corporation: IBM makes money from four segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Bank of America Corporation or International Business Machines Corporation?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Bank of America Corporation trades at 3.4x P/S and International Business Machines Corporation at 3.2x P/S. Bank of America Corporation commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to International Business Machines Corporation. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Bank of America Corporation bigger than International Business Machines Corporation?
By last reported revenue, Bank of America Corporation ($113.1B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to International Business Machines Corporation ($67.5B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Bank of America vs IBM overview