Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo named Bank of America his top pick for 2023 on expectations for “best-in-class” growth in net interest income, profit margin and earnings. Mayo wrote in a note published that day that the stock should post a high multiple this year and could climb 55% from its price on Tuesday. The nation’s second-largest bank by assets exemplifies Mayo’s bull thesis for banks, which is that they will weather an impending economic downturn better than expected because the industry has spent the past decade de-risking businesses. Have done “Like any bank, it’s ‘showtime’ for BAC as we expect NII growth to be hit by higher rates, higher trading volumes demonstrating model scalability, and slower economic growth.” Further proves BAC’s resilience after years of D-exposure,” Mayo wrote. The veteran bank analyst’s call clashes with many of his peers who published bearish notes last month, citing expectations of a US recession in 2023. Higher reserves for bad loans, rising spending and cost of funds for deposits, and moribund results in wealth management and investment banking were predicted by pessimistic analysts. To be fair, Bank of America was also Mayo’s top pick in early 2022. After a strong start to the year, investors bailed out banks amid concerns that an impending recession would lead to higher defaults. Shares of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank fell 26% last year, worse than rival JPMorgan Chase’s 15% decline and the KBW Bank Index’s 24% decline. “Our view is that this stems from a recent bias from the global financial crisis and ignores what is the largest amount the Fed has reduced risk of any major bank based on stress testing,” Mayo said last week. Wrote about the stock decline of the year. , Mayo wrote that Mayo’s other top picks are US Bancorp and PNC Financial, both of which should beat consensus earnings by at least 6% over the next two years. His favorite banks should be able to address investors’ concerns better than competitors by holding onto gains in net interest income, demonstrating good expense controls and “superior” credit quality, he wrote. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.