Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s stock traders posted their highest quarterly revenue haul on record, riding a wave of volatility triggered by an emerging global trade war that’s roiled financial markets.
Equity-trading revenue rose 27 per cent from a year earlier to US$4.19 billion for the first three months of the year, according to a statement Monday.
The results build on the sector’s momentum from last week, when Goldman peers including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley also notched record stock-trading hauls for the period. And they follow a record year for Goldman in 2024, when the New York-based bank lifted its revenue in the division by almost 50 per cent.
“While we are entering the second quarter with a markedly different operating environment than earlier this year, we remain confident in our ability to continue to support our clients,” Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said in the statement.
While policy pronouncements from the Trump administration sparked volatility during the first three months of the year, that turmoil intensified earlier this month when more tariffs were announced at levels far higher than most analysts predicted.
Shares of the company, which were down 14 per cent this year through Friday, advanced 1.5 per cent at 7:51 a.m. in early New York trading.
Growth in Goldman’s dealmaking machine remains challenging as the same market volatility that fuels trading hampers clients’ willingness to ink big-ticket mergers and financing agreements. The company’s investment-banking revenue was $1.91 billion, eight per cent lower than last year.
Financial-advisory revenues and equity underwriting both missed expectations, but the bank’s debt desk came in higher than predicted.
Even as big-ticket deals remain thin, the bank’s investment-banking fees backlog has grown quarter-over-quarter, the company said. That echoes the sentiment that Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick conveyed on Friday, when he said a lot of deals are paused but not abandoned.
Goldman’s top-line revenue was $15.1 billion, the third-highest quarter on record, and topping the analyst consensus of $14.8 billion. Earnings per share were $14.12, also a beat.
Fixed-income traders posted revenue of $4.4 billion, slightly below forecasts but still one of the highest quarterly hauls in the bank’s history.
Goldman traders stand to gain from market volatility to a point, but Solomon has also called for more clarity on U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy agenda to provide certainty to investors. The results are the first since his future at the bank’s helm was cemented with an $80 million retention bonus — criticized by investor-advisory firms — that keeps him at Goldman until at least 2030.
Return on equity for the quarter was 16.9 per cent, higher than estimates.
Revenue from the bank’s vast asset- and wealth-management business was $3.68 billion, lower than the $3.84 billion expected by analysts.
Goldman is trying to expand that unit, which now manages $3.17 trillion, including by opening private equity funds to individual investors outside the bank. In doing so, it aims to create a more steady stream of fee-based income, tapping growing demand for private-market investments and alleviating investor concerns over its less predictable businesses.
Todd Gillespie, Bloomberg News
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