BANK OF AMERICA: These 5 trends emerged from companies' first-quarter earnings reports

A man walks near a Bank of America branch in New York's Times Square Decemeber 11, 2008. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

• Bank of America highlighted five key stock market trends that emerged from S&P 500 firms' first-quarter earnings reports.
• The period's profits landed about 9% below analyst estimates and 15% lower than their year-ago levels, according to the bank.
• Economists expect the second quarter to host the worst of the coronavirus' fallout, leading any new patterns to shape investor actions moving forward.
• Here are the five trends revealed by first-quarter reports, from consensus estimates for a V-shaped rebound to concentrated damage to a handful of sectors.
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With 95% of S&P 500 companies having reported their first-quarter results, Bank of America highlighted key trends emerging from the coronavirus-addled market.

Profit- and revenue-estimate cuts slowed through May, the bank said in a Monday note, signaling that a market floor could be emerging. First-quarter results broadly landed 9% below analyst hopes and 15% lower than their year-ago levels. Yet economists expect the second quarter to feature the greatest fallout as layoffs intensified and credit struggles turned into bankruptcies.

Even as uncertainty continues to cloud the investing landscape, key patterns could guide investors toward safe havens and away from dangerous sectors. Here are the five trends Bank of America found in first-quarter reports.

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