In the first quarter, Capital One earned $3.3 billion or $7.03 per diluted common share.
Pre-provision earnings increased 1% in the quarter to $3.4 billion, and we recorded a provision benefit of $823 million.
After recognizing $535 million of gains during 2021 on our Snowflake investment, we had a loss on our position in the first quarter of $75 million or $0.12 per share.
We've now fully exited our position with a cumulative gain of $460 million.
In the first quarter, we released $1.6 billion of allowance.
The release was driven by strong credit performance across all of our businesses and a more favorable economic outlook that includes the $1.9 trillion stimulus package passed in March.
After the impact of the $1.6 billion allowance release, our coverage levels declined modestly across all segments from the prior quarter and remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
Our domestic card coverage is now 10.5%, down from 10.8% last quarter.
Our branded card coverage is 12.1%.
Coverage in our consumer business declined 38 basis points to 3.6%.
And coverage in our commercial banking business fell 23 basis points to 2%.
You can see our preliminary average liquidity coverage ratio during the first quarter was 139%, well above the 100% regulatory requirement.
Our liquidity reserves from cash, securities, and federal home loan bank capacity ended the quarter at approximately $151 billion.
The $7 billion increase in total liquidity is largely attributable to strong inflows of consumer and commercial deposits in the last few weeks of the quarter.
Our common equity Tier 1 capital ratio was 14.6% at the end of the first quarter, up 90 basis points from the fourth quarter and 260 basis points higher than a year ago.
We continue to estimate that our CET1 capital need is around 11%.
Recall that in January, our board of directors authorized a repurchase plan of up to $7.5 billion of the company's common stock.
In the first quarter, we repurchased $400 million of -- $490 million of common stock at an average price of approximately $114 per share.
Based on the Fed's extension of the trailing four-quarter average earnings rule, our share repurchase capacity will be limited to approximately $1.7 billion in the second quarter.
Domestic card purchase volume for the first quarter was up 8.4% year over year, with growth accelerating in March.
Compared to the first quarter of 2019, purchase volume is up 17%.
At the end of the first quarter, domestic card ending loan balances were down $18.5 billion or about 17% year over year.
Excluding the impact of a partnership portfolio moved to held-for-sale last year, first-quarter ending loans declined about 15% year over year.
The domestic card charge-off rate for the quarter was 2.54%, a 214-basis-point improvement year over year.
The 30-plus delinquency rate at quarter end was 2.24%, 145 basis points better than the prior year.
First-quarter provision for credit losses improved by nearly $4 billion year over year.
Strong credit and purchase volume growth were also key drivers of domestic card revenue margin, which was up 229 basis points year over year to 17.2%.
Driven by auto, first-quarter ending loans increased 10% year over year in the consumer banking business.
Average loans grew 9%.
Auto originations were up 16% year over year, and up 20% from the linked quarter.
First-quarter ending deposits in the consumer banking were up $36.4 billion, or 17% year over year.
Average deposits were up 16%.
On a linked-quarter basis, ending deposits were up 2% and average deposits were flat.
First-quarter consumer banking revenue increased 22% from the prior-year quarter, driven by growth in auto loans and retail deposits.
First-quarter provision for credit losses improved by $986 million year over year, driven by an allowance release and lower charge-offs in our auto business.
Year over year, the first-quarter charge-off rate improved 104 basis points to 0.47%, and the delinquency rate improved 217 basis points to 3.12%.
First-quarter ending loan balances were down 9% year over year.
Average loans were down 3%.
Quarterly average deposits increased 24% from the first quarter of 2020 and 4% from the linked quarter as middle market and government customers continued to hold elevated levels of liquidity.
First-quarter revenue was up 4% from the prior-year quarter.
The criticized performing loan rate was 9.2%, and the criticized nonperforming loan rate was 0.9%.

Summary:
In the first quarter, Capital One earned $3.3 billion or $7.03 per diluted common share.
Pre-provision earnings increased 1% in the quarter to $3.4 billion, and we recorded a provision benefit of $823 million.
Our common equity Tier 1 capital ratio was 14.6% at the end of the first quarter, up 90 basis points from the fourth quarter and 260 basis points higher than a year ago.
Average loans were down 3%.