Goldman Sachs profit jumps 78% as trading and dealmaking surge

Goldman Sachs reported net earnings of $6.63bn for the second quarter of 2026, a 78.2% increase from the same period last year. Net revenue climbed 39.5% to $20.34bn, driven overwhelmingly by a sharp recovery in its core trading and banking divisions.

The bank's Global Banking & Markets unit generated $15.52bn in revenue, surging 53% year-on-year. This indicates that volatile markets and a reopening of capital markets are translating directly into bottom-line growth for institutional dealers.

Asset and Wealth Management provided a steadier growth engine, with revenue rising 20% to $4.6bn. Assets under supervision reached $4.04tn, fueled by $230bn in net inflows and $161bn in market appreciation.

Higher revenue brought higher costs, with operating expenses rising 26% to $11.67bn. Compensation and transaction-based costs drove the increase, though the bank offset this by cutting headcount by 2% from the first quarter. Credit quality improved significantly, with the provision for losses dropping to $102m from $384m a year earlier, a prior period that included reserves for a credit card portfolio since marked for sale.

The firm returned $5.36bn to shareholders in the quarter. This included $4bn in buybacks, covering 4.1 million shares at an average price of $984.57, alongside $1.36bn in dividends.

For investors, the critical takeaway is the sustainability of this windfall. CEO David Solomon pointed to an active pipeline. "We are relentlessly driving our long-term growth strategy across Global Banking & Markets and Asset & Wealth Management, and given what we see in our pipelines, we expect this flywheel of activity to continue," Solomon said. The bank bolstered its dealmaking leadership in May by promoting global M&A head Stephan Feldgoise and global risk head Joshua Schiffrin to the management committee, alongside naming Ericka Leslie as chief administrative officer.

The only notable weak spot was Platform Solutions, where revenue plunged 64% to $221m. However, at a fraction of total revenue, the segment's struggles did little to detract from the half-year results, which saw total net profit hit $12.26bn on $37.57bn of revenue.