New York, January 9, 2026, 12:57 ET — Regular session
- GS up roughly 0.5% around midday after Apple Card transition details surfaced
- Apple Card deal seen adding roughly $0.46 to Q4 EPS, though net revenue takes a hit from write-downs and termination costs
- Attention turns to Jan. 15 earnings and any commentary on deal fees, trading and costs
Goldman Sachs shares nudged up Friday after the bank said it has a deal to move the Apple Card program to JPMorgan Chase’s Chase, which JPMorgan and Apple said would shift more than $20 billion in card balances to Chase once the transition is finished. Goldman was up 0.5% at $939.12 by midday, versus a 0.1% gain for the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF; JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley also traded higher. Goldman said the exit should lift fourth-quarter diluted earnings per share by about 46 cents, reflecting a $2.48 billion release of loan-loss reserves — money set aside for expected credit losses — partially offset by a $2.26 billion hit to net revenue from loan write-downs and contract-ending costs plus $38 million of expenses; CEO David Solomon said it “substantially completes” the narrowing of its consumer focus. (Reuters)
Timing is key. Big U.S. banks start reporting next week, with Goldman up on Jan. 15. Investors want to see whether a rebound in M&A and underwriting actually flowed through to fees, and whether markets revenue held up into year-end. A Reuters preview pegged global investment banking revenue up 15% in 2025 to almost $103 billion, and put global M&A volume at $5.1 trillion, up 42% from 2024. Stephen Biggar, a banking analyst at Argus Research, called the quarter a “perfect recipe” for investment banking revenue. (Reuters)
A regulatory filing showed Goldman tweaked its segment reporting beginning in the fourth quarter, shifting transaction banking into Global Banking & Markets and narrowing how it reports consumer-related activity within Platform Solutions. The bank said it recast segment results back to its 2021 fiscal year for comparability, a change that could alter how analysts follow Platform Solutions as Apple Card runs off. (SEC)
On the dealmaking front, Goldman was also tapped alongside UBS on a planned initial public offering of CK Hutchison’s A.S. Watson unit, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Hong Kong logged its strongest IPO year since 2021 in 2025, with 114 new listings raising $36.5 billion, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. (Reuters)
Macro could still tug the tape. A Reuters Week Ahead report said bank results and Tuesday’s U.S. consumer price index report will compete for investor attention, and it pointed to rising focus on what banks say about household finances. “The banks are going to be telling you something … pretty important because they’re on the front lines,” said Jack Janasiewicz, a portfolio manager at Natixis Investment Managers. (Reuters)
But the Apple Card handoff still needs regulatory approvals and will take time, keeping Goldman on the hook for any swing in consumer credit performance until the accounts move. A sharper-than-expected jump in delinquencies, or another market wobble that freezes IPOs and deal talks, would dent the fee story investors have been leaning on into earnings.
Goldman is set to report fourth-quarter results on Thursday, Jan. 15, with the release expected around 7:30 a.m. ET followed by a conference call at 9:30 a.m. ET, the bank said. Traders will be tuned in for signs of how quickly Platform Solutions shrinks, and whether momentum in advisory and underwriting can make up for any softer patches in wealth and financing. (Goldman Sachs)
