Bank of America (BAC) stock has managed to post market-crushing gains even as much of its bottom line is being driven by costs cuts and favorable accounting — not revenue growth. That means even the most bullish investor in BAC stock has to wonder how much longer this hot streak can go on.

BAC stock is by far the best-performing big-bank stock, and it has been for some time. Bank of American stock is up 11% for the year-to-date, beating the S&P 500 by about 10 percentage points, as well as outpacing JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) by a wide margin.

If you look a little farther back, the outperformance of BAC stock is even more impressive. Bank of America stock gained 44% over the last 52 weeks, which puts it ahead of the broader market by more than 30 points. The next-best bank performance — WFC stock — is up 33%.

Should you still be eying BAC stock even though the easy money looks like it has already been made? To help decide, let’s look at some of the pros and cons:

BAC Stock Pros

More Earnings Upside To Come: Yes, BAC has been juicing its bottom line with cost cuts and the release of reserves — but so is every other bank. BAC still has more to go in its latest cost-cutting program, while the continuing improvement in credit quality means it will release more reserves to boost the bottom line. Wall Street expects earnings per share to grow to $1.32 this year from 90 cents in 2013.

Cash Back Rewards: BAC has gone a long way in shoring up its capital position. The bank has generated cost savings of nearly $7 billion over the last two years. Meanwhile, BAC has sold $70 million in non-core assets over the last three years. All that extra cash in the coffers — and a green light from the Federal Reserve — allowed Bank of American to start a stock buyback program. The bank is currently purchasing up to $5 billion in BAC stock.

Economic Tailwinds: A number of developments are working in favor of banks this year — particularly so for BAC stock. Rising interest rates will eventually lift banks’ net interest margins (or the difference between what they pay for deposits and charge on loans). The housing market is gaining traction, and lending, while still historically weak, is expected to start improving soon, too. If it all comes together, BAC should start reporting revenue growth for the full fiscal year.

BAC Stock Cons

Weak Dividend: BAC’s capital position should be more than strong enough to pass the Fed’s latest round of stress tests, but analysts don’t expect to see a dividend hike soon. At a yield of just 0.2%, BAC stock has one of the weakest dividends in the big-bank universe. Indeed, WFC stock yields 2.5%, and JPM stock yields 2.6%. Only C stock — at 0.1% — offers a lower dividend yield than Bank of America stock.

Legal Headaches and Costs: Anyone holding Bank of America stock is probably still lamenting the day the bank bought Countrywide. BAC has already paid $43 billion in litigation and repurchase costs to compensate for shoddy mortgage lending, servicing and foreclosures. And there’s more pain in the pipeline. CEO Brian Moynihan has said BAC faces up to an additional $9 billion in litigation costs related to the financial crisis and mortgages.

Low Quality, High Volatility: Another strike against BAC stock is that it doesn’t generate much profit with the money shareholders have plowed into it, known as return on equity (ROE). Often used as a short-hand for stock’s quality, BAC’s ROE stands at less than 5%. WFC, by comparison, has an ROE above 12%, while JPM is close to 9%. Furthermore, BAC stock is unusually volatile. With a beta of nearly 2, it’s essentially twice as volatile as the broader market. That greatly increases the risk of buying high and selling low.

BAC Stock Verdict

Despite how far BAC stock has come, it probably has more upside ahead. That’s partly a reflection of how badly it was beaten down. Indeed, by some measures, it’s still down: BAC stock still has a price-to-book-value ratio of less than 1. True, BAC faces legal headaches for the foreseeable future, but it has about $14 billion squirreled away to pay for past mistakes.

So, should you buy BAC stock? Yes — Bank of America has a good deal of earnings growth in its future, and BAC stock will likely go along for the ride.

As of this writing, Dan Burrows did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.