Goldman Sachs on Monday posted first-quarter results that topped expectations on record equities trading results and higher-than-expected investment banking revenue.
Here’s what the company reported:
- Earnings: $17.55 per share vs. $16.49 LSEG estimate
- Revenue: $17.23 billion vs. $16.97 billion expected
The bank said profit climbed 19% from the year-earlier quarter to $5.63 billion, or $17.55 per share. Revenue rose 14% to $17.23 billion.
Trading desks across Wall Street were busy at the start of the year as institutional investors set new positions against the churn of artificial intelligence-led disruption in markets. For Goldman, that resulted in its biggest quarter from equities trading, helping propel the overall firm to its second-highest quarterly revenue.
Equities revenue rose 27% to $5.33 billion, or about $420 million more than the StreetAccount estimate, on rising financing activity to hedge fund clients in its prime brokerage business, as well as matching more buyers and sellers in cash equities products.
Investment banking fees climbed 48% to $2.84 billion, about $340 million more than expected, on a surge in advisory revenue from completed mergers transactions. The firm also cited higher revenue in equity and debt underwriting.
But the firm’s fixed income operations didn’t fare as well. Revenue there fell 10% to $4.01 billion, an unusually large miss of $910 million versus the StreetAccount estimate. Goldman cited “significantly lower” revenues in interest rate products, mortgages and credit for the results.
The firm’s asset and wealth management division saw a 10% jump in revenue to $4.08 billion in the quarter. But that was about $140 million below expectations, as higher management fees from rising assets under supervision were partially offset by lower private banking revenues.
Goldman’s provision for credit losses rose nearly 10% from a year earlier to $315 million, or more than double the StreetAccount estimate of $150.4 million, on loan growth and impairments on wholesale loans.
Shares of the bank fell more than 4% in premarket trading.
The bank’s results in the quarter were helped by a lower-than-expected tax rate, compensation ratio and a larger-than-expected buyback, Barclays banking analyst Jason Goldberg said Monday morning in a note.
For Goldman Sachs, which gets most of its revenue from its trading and investment banking franchise, the main question analysts will have is about the impact of the Iran war that started on Feb. 28.
Disruptive events that impact the price of commodities — like the Iran conflict has — can sometimes force corporate clients to the sidelines, which could threaten future capital markets deals like mergers or debt issuance.
Goldman CEO David Solomon referenced rising volatility “amid the broader uncertainty” of the period.
“Goldman Sachs delivered very strong performance for our shareholders this quarter, even as market conditions became more volatile,” Solomon said in the earnings release. “The geopolitical landscape remains very complex – so disciplined risk management must remain core to how we operate.”
