Goldman’s equities traders regain Wall Street crown
Goldman Sachs regained its crown as the top investment bank for equities trading in the fourth quarter, ending Morgan Stanley’s three-month period of supremacy over its longtime rival.
On a busy day of results on Wall Street, Goldman and Morgan Stanley both reported a rise in fourth-quarter profits, while BlackRock reported assets under management of over $14tn for the first time.
Goldman reported equities trading revenues of $4.31bn, well ahead of the $3.7bn Morgan Stanley delivered.
In the previous quarter, Morgan Stanley had out-earned Goldman in equities trading for the first time since the end of 2022.
Goldman’s fourth-quarter performance was a record for a stock trading by a bank, very narrowly overtaking the $4.3bn the bank had reported in the second quarter of 2025. It also experienced a boom in its investment banking division, logging the biggest backlog of deals in four years, as companies take advantage of a more permissive US regulatory environment.
“CEOs definitely believe that the art of the deal and scaled consolidation is possible now,” said Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon.
Goldman Sachs’ profits rose 12 per cent in the fourth quarter, boosted by the end of its Apple credit card partnership, a jump in investment banking and a powerhouse performance by its equities traders.
Wall Street rival Morgan Stanley reported an 18 per cent increase in profits for the fourth quarter, boosted by gains in its investment bank and equities trading business.
BlackRock reported its biggest quarterly inflows in the company’s history, pushing assets under management above $14tn for the first time.
Goldman boss says corporate chiefs trying to use Trump term to pursue deals
Corporate bosses are trying to use the next three years of the Trump administration to pursue big strategic deals, said Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon.
“I think CEOs and boards are looking and saying, OK, we’ve got a window here of a handful of years where the opportunity to consider big, strategic, transformative things is certainly possible,” he said.
“CEOs definitely believe that the art of the deal and scaled consolidation is possible now.”
Goldman shares turn higher
Shares in Goldman Sachs have turned higher, and were recently up about 3 per cent.
CEO David Solomon struck a very optimistic tone on the earnings call, including on the outlook for investment banking and the bank’s wealth management business.