Goldman Sachs Results Beat Estimates

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said its fourth-quarter earnings climbed, the latest big Wall Street firm to report results for a year that started rough but brightened late.

The New York-based firm reported a profit of $2.35 billion, or $5.08 a share. That compares with $1.27 a share a year earlier, when the firm reached a $5 billion settlement with the Justice Department over mortgage-bond practices. Without that settlement, earnings would have been $4.68 a share.

Revenue grew to $8.17 billion from $7.27 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected Goldman Sachs to earn $4.82 a share on revenue of $7.72 billion.

Many investors expected a strong quarter from the firm run by Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Goldman rivals including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley reported big boosts in their trading businesses over the past week, in part spurred by the return of volatility to Wall Street.

Uncertainty brought on by President-elect Donald Trump's election -- and, subsequently, his tweets -- created openings for traders and boosted the banks they use to place their bets. Alone among Wall Street firms, Goldman gets the biggest chunk of its revenue from its securities business, where it buys and sells stocks, bonds, currencies and other assets on behalf of clients.

Goldman shares have risen 30% since the election, making them the single biggest contributor to a surge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Write to Liz Hoffman at liz.hoffman@wsj.com