The big banks kicked off earnings season recently, and for the most part, their numbers looked strong.

Bank of America (BAC 1.53%) is a particularly interesting case, as it beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines when it reported Friday, but recession fears and the bank's higher loan-loss provisions are making some investors hesitate. Here's a rundown of the good and bad about Bank of America's fourth-quarter results, and whether the stock might be worth a closer look right now.

Bank of America's fourth quarter was strong

We'll start with the headline numbers, where Bank of America beat expectations for both revenue and earnings per share. Revenue jumped by 11% year over year, and earnings were slightly higher even after the bank set aside a higher provision for credit losses. Its earnings gains were largely fueled by interest income, as the bank generated $14.7 billion in net interest income for the quarter, up 29% year over year.

Bank of America's business looked quite strong all around in the fourth quarter. Among the highlights, its consumer banking business added more than 1 million net new checking accounts, its global wealth and investment management unit saw $87 billion of inflows, and in terms of the volume of investment banking fees it collected, Bank of America jumped from ranking No. 4 a year ago to No. 3 now.

Results for the investment banking unit were weak, but this was to be expected, as that business relies on things like M&A deals, IPOs, and debt issuance -- all activities that have slowed to a crawl recently. In all, the bank achieved an 11.2% return on equity compared with 10.9% a year ago.

Reasons investors are being cautious

There are a few reasons why the stock initially declined Friday morning (shares rebounded later in the day) after this seemingly strong earnings report, and they mostly have to do with investors' recession fears. CEO Brian Moynihan cautioned investors that the economy is "increasingly slowing," and the bank set aside $1.1 billion in anticipation of credit losses. Charge-offs are still relatively low compared with pre-pandemic levels, and the bank's 0.26% net charge-off ratio isn't anything to be alarmed about, but this is worth keeping an eye on.

Consumer spending is also starting to weaken. On one hand, Bank of America reported that spending on credit and debit cards increased by 5% compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, but the inflation rate was even higher than that, so in real terms, consumers are buying less.

A big beneficiary of higher interest rates at a cheap valuation

Bank of America's stock has been beaten down in the recent market downturn, but the company remains strong. Charge-offs are significantly lower than pre-pandemic averages on both the consumer and business sides. Meanwhile, it has been one of the largest beneficiaries of rising interest rates in the banking industry thanks to its extremely low-cost deposit base. In fact, over the past year, Bank of America's net interest yield -- the margin on its loan business -- has grown from 1.92% to 2.81%. And if benchmark interest rates keep rising, the bank estimates that a 100-basis-point (1 percentage point) boost would add $3.8 billion to its annual net interest income.

In the current uncertain environment, some of its rivals have pumped the brakes on their capital returns, but Bank of America continues to buy back shares. In fact, its outstanding share count has declined by 5% over the past year, and its dividend gives the stock a 2.6% yield at the current price.

Speaking of the current price, Bank of America closed this week trading at around 34% below its 52-week high and is now valued at a historically low multiple of 1.15 times book value. While concerns that a recession may occur this year are certainly legitimate, Bank of America seems to be doing more than enough to prepare for one, and shares look like an excellent value while the uncertain economic environment persists.