Wall Street’s dealmaking boom didn’t slow at Goldman Sachs (GS) in the fourth quarter.
Goldman reported net income of $4.6 billion, or $14.01 earnings per share, a 12% increase from the fourth quarter of last year. The outcome far exceeded analyst expectations, which did not include Goldman’s deal to pass its Apple (AAPL) credit card portfolio to JPMorgan Chase (JPM) that was disclosed last week.
The handoff included a $2.12 billion net benefit reflecting a release of loan loss reserves tied to the portfolio, leading to a one-time $0.46 earnings per share bump.
The Apple handoff also dented Goldman’s quarterly net revenue, which fell 3% to $13.5 billion from the fourth quarter of 2024.
Revenue from Goldman’s dealmaking fees jumped 25% to $2.57 billion, in line with analyst expectations and surpassing other big bank rivals with the exception of Citigroup (C).
Goldman’s stock rose slightly early Thursday morning. The stock is up over 60% over the last 12 months.
“We continue to see high levels of client engagement across our franchise and expect momentum to accelerate in 2026, activating a flywheel of activity across our entire firm,” Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said in a statement.
“While there are meaningful opportunities to deploy capital across our franchise and to return capital to shareholders, our unwavering focus remains on maintaining a disciplined risk management framework and robust standards,” Solomon added.
2025 was a good year for Goldman. Along with putting its Apple credit card headache in the rearview, the bank notched its second-highest year for profits — $17.2 billion — a 27% increase from 2024 full-year net income. The bank also recorded its second highest full-year in net revenue and dealmaking fees.
Goldman’s standout M&A advisory business soared 41% to $1.36 billion compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, which was also roughly in line with analyst expectations. The bank also notched its highest year ever in equity trading fees. Those fees from Goldman’s markets unit jumped 24% during the fourth quarter to $4.3 billion while total trading for the full-year rose 16% from 2024.
The dealmaking boom spread across Wall Street for most of 2025, but activity ebbed during the year’s final quarter for some of Goldman’s closest rivals.
On Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase said that investment banking fees tumbled 4% from the year ago period, missing expectations set by analysts and the bank itself in early December. JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum said a contributing factor to the weaker dealmaking period included “the timing of some deals that were pushed to 2026.”
“We’re obviously optimistic on investment banking fees generally,” Barnum said told analysts on Tuesday, while CEO Jamie Dimon added that competition in dealmaking was “like trench warfare.”
Investment banking fees rose 1% from the year ago period at Bank of America (BAC), with the Charlotte, North Carolina, based bank’s equity underwriting and merger advisory services seeing declines. That amount still exceeded the Street’s expectations.
For Wells Fargo (WFC), fees fell 1% though the small but growing investment banking house still posted its highest revenue full-year dealmaking revenue ever.
Citigroup’s fourth quarter also brought a record. Revenue from its M&A advisory service soared 84% , bringing in the bank’s best three months and full-year for that business, CEO Jane Fraser said Wednesday. That spurred the New York based bank’s total dealmaking fees up 35% to $1.29 billion.
Goldman also set new targets for its asset and wealth management division, moving its target from “mid-teens” returns to “high-teens.” That division’s net revenues fell 1% to $4.72 billion compared to a year ago.
Goldman announced Thursday that its raising its quarterly dividend by 50 cents to $4.50.
David Hollerith covers the financial sector, ranging from the country’s biggest banks to regional lenders, private equity firms, and the cryptocurrency space.
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