Earnings 'Noise' Masks Bank Revenue

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Some bank shares could be a real value if you can listen past the "noise."

Extraordinary items affecting bank earnings -- including goodwill write-downs, loan loss reserve releases and growing litigation costs in the wake of the mortgage mess -- create a muddled picture of how banks faired in the most recent earnings season.

4 Banks with Growing Revenue >>

TheStreet has identified which of the biggest bank names really fared the best during the fourth quarter.

First, we take a look at the largest four U.S. bank holding companies by market capitalization and total assets, which all reported improved earnings year-over-year, except for Bank of America (BAC), whose results illustrate the complications of late-credit-cycle financial reporting.

When looking beyond the padding provided by the release of loan loss reserves, three of the Big Four suffered revenue declines.