New York Community Bancorp forecast far better-than-expected profit for the next two years and said on Wednesday it was close to selling $5 billion of assets, sending its beaten-down stock up nearly 27% despite posting a first-quarter loss.

New York Community Bank (NYCB) had a tough quarter, losing $335 million because many commercial loans went bad and expenses went up. But the bank’s stock went up because of its new goals. In the first quarter,

The surge in stock price reflects a renewed optimism in the bank’s ability to weather the storm and emerge stronger in the long term. The bank’s acknowledgment of a transitional period marked by heavy losses from exposure to commercial real estate underscores the broader challenges facing the financial industry,

New York Community Bancorp on Wednesday forecast profits for the next two years that topped analysts' predictions by a wide margin, sending its beaten-down stock up 20%. The bank, however, posted a fi