Profits hit record high at Goldman Sachs on bullish markets

(Sharecast News) - Profits at Goldman Sachs soared in the last quarter, the Wall Street giant confirmed on Tuesday, on the back of record equity trading and a surge in investment banking fees. The lender, one of a slew of US banks reporting second-quarter numbers this week, saw net earnings surge 78% to $6.6bn, easily outstripping consensus for $4.7bn, while net revenues jumped 39% to $20.3bn. Driving the performance was its dominant global banking and markets arm, which posted a 53% spike in revenues, to $15.5bn. Within that, investment banking fees rocketed 55% to $3.4bn, while equities surged 72% to $7.4bn, well ahead of forecasts.

Chief executive David Solomon said it had been a "record" performance". He continued: "Momentum has accelerated throughout our businesses.

"We are relentlessly driving our long-term growth strategy across global banking and markets, and asset and wealth management, and given what we see in our pipelines, we expect this flywheel of activity to continue."

The stock had put on 4% in pre-market trading by 1400 BST.

Global markets have benefited from a boom in tech stocks on the back of surging demand for artificial intelligence. Equities have also largely remained on an upward trajectory despite the outbreak of war in the Middle East and the subsequent surge in oil prices and uplift in inflationary pressures.

There has also been a slew of major deals and initial public offerings this year, including SpaceX's historic $1.77trn market debut in June. Goldman Sachs was one of the lead underwriters on the deal.

Rivals Citigroup, JP Morgan and Bank of America also posted second-quarter numbers on Tuesday, and all showed a spike in profits.