Goldman Traders’ Best Result in Years Spurs Surprise Profit Gain
- Trading revenue almost doubles, surging past analyst estimates
- Underwriting fees jump to a record as debt markets open up
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. made the most of a historic market rebound in the second quarter as the Federal Reserve’s stimulus efforts handed a bonanza to Wall Street trading desks.
Revenue from trading stocks and bonds surged 93%, surpassing what analysts had expected by about $2.5 billion and mirroring similar gains reported Tuesday by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. The bank also raked in record fees from helping companies raise cash needed to weather the coronavirus pandemic.
“The turbulence we have seen in recent months only reinforces our commitment to the strategy we outlined earlier this year to investors,” Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said in a statement Wednesday.
The full force of the Fed helped rescue markets reeling from the outbreak and government stay-at-home orders, which had ground economies to a halt around the world. Policy makers’ emergency measures sent companies racing to tap funding sources, and the biggest quarterly stock gains in more than two decades fueled demand for trading services.