Goldman Sachs’ trading desk sets new Wall Street record

Goldman Sachs blew through expectations for equities-trading revenue, posting an all-time Wall Street record of $4.31 billion in the final three months of last year.

Processing Content

That was higher than the previous record for any bank, set by Goldman in the second quarter of 2025. It also came in nearly $700 million higher than what analysts had expected for the quarter, according to the average estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

Goldman has fine-tuned its trading machine and expanded its investment-banking share under Chief Executive David Solomon, who has reasserted control and refocused the firm after a precarious period triggered by a failed foray into consumer banking. It’s also pushing hard to grow its wealth and buyout business, which it’s touted as a reliable income generator that helps balance the firm’s more volatile core businesses.

Goldman and Morgan Stanley are the last of the biggest U.S. banks to report fourth-quarter results. Morgan Stanley said Thursday that its debt-underwriting operation increased revenue 93% in the fourth quarter, by far the biggest jump on Wall Street and capping a record year for that business.

Goldman raised its dividend to $4.50 per share, it said in a statement Thursday.

The firm also increased targets for its asset and wealth management business, which posted a quarterly record for fees. It said it would aim for a 30% pretax margin in the medium term for the unit, up from mid-twenties, and returns in the high-teens, up from the mid-teens.

The bank’s asset and wealth management arm, led by Marc Nachmann, is growing through a flurry of acquisitions. Those include buying exchange-traded fund issuer Innovator Capital and venture capital firm Industry Ventures.

Apple card

Net revenue for the bank in 2025 was $58.3 billion, its second-best year on record. Without a multibillion-dollar impact from the sale of its Apple Card portfolio to J.P. Morgan Chase, it would have been a record.

Compensation expense was 13% higher in 2025 after a bigger-than-expected rise in the fourth quarter, though the annual jump was less than the firm’s 14% increase in annual revenue net of loan-loss provisions.

The bank’s shares fell 2.3% in early New York trading.

Investment-banking fees for the bank, which topped Bloomberg’s merger-advisory rankings in 2025, were $2.58 billion for the final three months of last year. That’s a fourth-quarter record for the firm and beat the consensus estimate.