The Atlanta-based regional bank posted net income after paying preferred dividends of $340 million, or 63 cents per share, up from $245 million, or 46 cents per share, in the same quarter the year before.
Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 65 cents per share, according to FactSet.
SunTrust credited the better results to continued cost cuts and improvements in credit quality. Noninterest expense fell 12 percent to $1.36 billion on across-the-board cost cuts.
Net interest income, or earnings from deposits and loans, fell 7 percent to $1.25 billion from $1.34 billion, as the bank made less money off its investments. Noninterest income, which includes fees for services and other sources of revenue, edged down 1 percent to $863 million from $876 million, hurt by lower mortgage-related income.
Total revenue fell 5 percent to $2.11 billion from $2.22 billion, falling short of analysts' predictions of $2.25 billion.
Its shares rose a penny to $27.33 in premarket trading.
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