Goldman Sachs profits surge, Wall Street trading activity unprecedented
It announced on Tuesday that its second-quarter net profit soared 78%, benefiting from generous fees from stock trading and mergers and acquisitions. The Wall Street investment bank posted net profit of $6.6 billion, or $21 per share, significantly beating analysts' expectations of $14.50 per share. The company's total net revenue rose 39% year-on-year to $20.3 billion; analysts had expected only $16.2 billion. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said in a press release: "Growth momentum continues to accelerate across all business lines of the group." The upsurge in corporate mergers and acquisitions and financing in the artificial intelligence field, coupled with extremely active market transactions this year, have helped the Wall Street giant deliver outstanding financial reports. Solomon said: "Customers choose us to take the lead in carrying out various core strategic major transactions. This type of business can often drive the coordinated growth of the group's entire business segment. Judging from the current scale of reserve projects, we expect this virtuous business cycle to continue." Goldman Sachs shares edged higher in pre-market trading on Tuesday; as of Monday's close, the stock was up 18% for the year. The company disclosed that revenue from its stock trading segment surged 72% year-on-year to $7.4 billion. Investment banking revenue hit $3.4 billion, a new single-quarter high since 2021, with mergers and acquisitions advisory and equity underwriting businesses being the main drivers. The equity underwriting segment covers new IPO underwriting, and a number of blockbuster artificial intelligence-related transactions this quarter brought significant fees to it, including the sensational listing of SpaceX (ticker: SPCX), and A larger additional offering from parent company Alphabet. Revenue in the segment jumped 130% to $985 million.