Goldman Sachs rides investment banking, trading to big earnings beat

Goldman Sachs Group shattered Wall Street expectations amid record-breaking performance from its investment bank and the strongest quarter for bond trading in nine years.

The New York-based company earned $2.42 billion, or $6.26 a share, outpacing the $3.78 that Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GS	THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC.	601.71	-3.86	-0.64%

Revenue jumped 41 percent from a year ago to $13.3 billion, the second-highest quarterly total on record, outpacing the consensus estimate of $9.75 billion. The firm’s bond-trading desk raked in $4.24 billion, while its equity trading generated $2.94 billion, an 11-year high.

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Goldman’s investment banking division, which underwrites stock and bond offerings in addition to providing financial advice on mergers and acquisitions, brought in a record $2.66 billion of revenue.

“Our strong financial performance across our client franchises demonstrates the inherent benefits of our diversified business model,” Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said in a statement. “While the economic outlook remains uncertain, I am confident that we will continue to be the firm of choice for clients around the world who are looking to reshape their businesses and rebuild a more resilient economy..”

Goldman set aside $1.59 billion for disruptions caused by COVID-19, bringing the annual total allowance for credit losses to $4.39 billion.

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Shares fell 6.92 percent this year through Tuesday, a steeper drop than the 1.03 percent decline on the S&P 500.