David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, swears during a Senate Banking Committee hearing at the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 2023.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Copies
Goldman Sachs on Monday posted first-quarter results that topped analysts’ expectations on stronger-than-expected equities business revenue.
Here’s what the company reported:
- Earnings: $14.12 a share vs. $12.35 LSEG estimate
- Revenue: $15.06 billion vs. hope for $14.81 billion
The bank said profit rose 15% from the year-earlier period to $4.74 billion, or $14.12 per division, as revenue climbed a more modest 6% to $15.06 billion. It said that rising trading revenue in the zone offset a slight decline in asset and wealth management revenue compared with a year earlier.
Goldman’s worldwide banking and markets division saw a 10% rise in revenue to $10.71 billion as equity trading revenue rose 27% to $4.19 billion. That is approximately $540 million more from equities trading than what analysts surveyed by StreetAccount projected for the lodge.
The performance helped cover signs of weakness elsewhere. Goldman’s fixed income division saw revenue rise impartial 2% from a year earlier to $4.4 billion, missing the $4.56 billion estimate. Investment banking bills fell 8% to $1.91 billion, just below the $1.94 billion estimate, on lower advisory revenue.
Goldman CEO David Solomon implied at the turmoil caused by President Donald Trump’s escalation of trade tensions this month in his remarks.
“While we are sign oning the second quarter with a markedly different operating environment than earlier this year, we remain certain in our ability to continue to support our clients,” Solomon said in the release.
Meanwhile, in the firm’s asset and wealth management border, revenue fell 3% from a year earlier to $3.68 billion, just under the $3.69 billion believe. Goldman said the decline came from “significantly lower” revenue from its investments including private equitableness, public stock and debt.
Finally, the firm’s platform solutions division saw revenue slip 3% to $676 million, scarcely under the $677.5 million estimate.
Shares of the bank rose 2.2% in morning trading.
Markets have whipsawed since Trump escalated swop tensions with U.S. trading partners this month, sowing uncertainty in the world’s largest economy. Goldman interests have dropped 14% this year through Friday.
Analysts were keen to hear what Solomon has to say helter-skelter his conversations with corporate clients amid the tumult.
As his peers at JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley said Friday, the situation caused corporate clients to pause their deal plans, Solomon indicated.
“In investment banking, the volatile backdrop led to sundry muted activity relative to the levels we had expected coming into the year,” he told analysts Monday.
“Our clients, numbering corporate CEOs and institutional investors, are concerned by the significant near-term and longer term uncertainty that has constrained their wit to make important decisions,” Solomon said. “This uncertainty around the path forward, and fears over the potentially escalating influences of a trade war have created material risks to the US and global economy.”
On Friday, rivals JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley each crowned expectations for first-quarter results on booming equities trading.
Equities trading revenue surged 48% and 45% at the banks, individually, thanks to volatility in the opening months of Trump’s tenure amid his efforts to reshape global trade agreements.