Thursday's Earnings Roundup: BAC, MS, DD, TRV, DHR, VZ, EMC, NOK

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Bank of America(BAC) posted first-quarter earnings Thursday morning that beat analysts' estimates as did Morgan Stanley(MS) .

The two banks were among the following companies reporting earnings Thursday: DuPont(DD) , Travelers(TRV) , Danaher(DHR) , Verizon(VZ) , EMC(EMC) and Nokia(NOK) .

Bank of America

The bank reported first-quarter earnings of 3 cents a share on $22.5 billion in revenue. On a valuation-adjusted basis, earnings came in at 28 cents a share, topping analysts' estimates of 12 cents a share on $22.51 billion in revenue.

"The narrowing of our credit spreads reflects the significant progress we've made to strengthen the balance sheet," Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said in a statement. "During the quarter, we increased our Tier 1 common equity ratio by 92 basis points from the prior quarter, improved our liquidity to record levels and continued to reduce risk-weighted assets. While the improvement in our credit spreads results in a negative adjustment to earnings this quarter, it should not overshadow the positive momentum that we are seeing in our businesses."

Shares of Bank of America rose 2.8% in premarket trading Thursday to $9.17. TheStreet Ratings gives Bank of America a C- grade and hold rating.