(FORTUNE Magazine) – What we said

In the fall of 2003 when Bank of America announced that it was acquiring FleetBoston for $48 billion in stock, shares of the Charlotte banking behemoth plummeted. But in "Why Bank of America's Math Adds Up" (Dec. 8, 2003), we crunched the numbers with CEO Ken Lewis and concluded that BofA had not overpaid--and that the stock's plunge provided an opportunity for investors.

What happened

It looks like our math wasn't fuzzy. Since the article appeared, shares of Bank of America (BAC, $47) have had a total return of 32%. Over the same period, the S&P 500 and the S&P 500 Financials indexes have each returned about 19%. In its most recent quarter, BofA met analysts' expectations by earning $.94 per share, including an after-tax merger and restructuring charge of $181 million, and said that the integration of Fleet remains "on schedule." Assuming it stays that way, BAC is moderately attractive. It currently trades at 12 times its projected 2005 earnings, compared with a 2005 P/E of 14 for the S&P Financials. But with the flattening yield curve putting pressure on its margins, BAC's chances for a another big run in 2005 don't look good. -- Brian O'Keefe