New York, Jan 7, 2026, 17:18 EST — After-hours
- Goldman shares slid after-hours after a report JPMorgan struck a deal to take over Apple Card
- The portfolio is about $20 billion; Goldman is expected to sell the balances at a discount of more than $1 billion
- Attention now shifts to Goldman’s Jan. 15 results for any consumer-exit costs and the tone on dealmaking
Goldman Sachs shares fell 1.7% to $941.02 in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported JPMorgan Chase had reached a deal to take over Apple’s credit-card program from the Wall Street bank. The Journal said the Apple Card book totals about $20 billion and that Goldman is expected to offload the balances at a discount of more than $1 billion. 1
The report puts a price tag — at least on paper — on Goldman’s pullback from consumer banking. Losing Apple also clears a high-profile tie-up that had become shorthand for that push, fair or not.
Timing is part of the story. Goldman is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Jan. 15, before U.S. markets open, and investors will be listening for how fast the bank can finish shrinking consumer exposures and what it means for 2026 returns. 2
Across Wall Street, analysts expect a strong quarter for bank profits on higher investment banking fees as mergers and acquisitions (M&A) — mergers and acquisitions — picked up. Stephen Biggar, a banking analyst at Argus Research, said the quarter was “a perfect recipe” for investment banking revenue, while LSEG estimates point to a near 4.9% fall in Goldman’s earnings per share, or EPS, from a year earlier; Morningstar’s Sean Dunlop called inflation “the biggest variable” heading into results. 3
Goldman’s deal franchise has had a better headline lately. The bank topped global M&A rankings in 2025 with $1.48 trillion in deals advised, and its global co-head of M&A Stephan Feldgoise called it an “extraordinary M&A market” in the firm’s 2026 outlook. JPMorgan led the broader investment-banking fee table at $10.1 billion, versus $8.9 billion for Goldman, LSEG data showed. 4
In another window into trading conditions ahead of earnings, Goldman’s prime brokerage note to clients said hedge funds ran up leverage late last year, with gross leverage in its overall prime book rising to 292.8% in December. Leverage — borrowed money used to amplify positions — can lift volumes when it’s rising, and it can cut both ways when markets snap back. 5
Wednesday’s broader tape was messy. Markets started strong, then faded after mixed U.S. employment data, and investors were looking ahead to Friday’s December payrolls and unemployment report for a cleaner read on the jobs backdrop. 6
But the Apple Card transfer is not a clean break yet. The handoff is expected to take time, and the final discount — and any knock-on costs tied to exiting the partnership — could still shift, especially if credit performance changes or the portfolio sale proves harder to place.
For traders, the near-term map is simple: Wednesday’s $934–$960 range is now the first band to watch, with the next major catalyst Goldman’s earnings report due Jan. 15 before the bell. 7
