NEW YORK, Jan 16, 2026, 05:20 EST — Premarket
Goldman Sachs (GS) shares rose 4.6% to $975.86 in premarket trade on Friday, after ending the prior session at $932.80. The bank said fourth-quarter earnings per share were $14.01 versus analysts’ $11.67, and lifted its quarterly dividend to $4.50 a share. CEO David Solomon told analysts the backdrop was “incredibly constructive” for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), while equities trading revenue hit a record $4.31 billion and investment banking fees rose 25% to $2.58 billion. Reuters
The pop comes as Wall Street’s deal desks try to keep momentum rolling into 2026 after a year of big-ticket transactions and a revival in listings. Global investment banking revenues topped $100 billion in 2025, Dealogic data showed, and bankers say pipelines still look active. Morgan Stanley CFO Sharon Yeshaya said she is seeing “an accelerating pipeline in M&A and IPOs,” while Gabelli Funds’ Macrae Sykes said he expects “a very strong year of IPO issuance and announced M&A.” Reuters
For Goldman, that matters because a good chunk of the share story is confidence — CEOs signing off on deals, sponsors finding exits, and investors willing to trade risk again. If that mood slips, fee growth can fade fast, even with a strong quarter in the rear-view mirror.
U.S. stocks also found their footing on Thursday after Taiwan Semiconductor’s upbeat forecast lit a fuse under chip stocks, helping Wall Street end a two-day losing streak. Bank shares were firmer too, with investors leaning into earnings that pointed to strength in trading and advisory work.
The firm is also still cleaning up its consumer detour. Goldman has been exiting consumer banking, including selling its Apple Card credit card business to JPMorgan Chase, as the industry faces political pressure over proposals such as a cap on credit card interest rates.
A regulatory filing showed Goldman published the results in a Form 8-K and held a 9:30 a.m. ET conference call on Thursday, with its earnings release and presentation attached as exhibits.
The broader backdrop has been supportive for big banks. The Wall Street Journal reported the largest U.S. banks generated $593 billion in revenue and $157 billion in profit in 2025, with trading and dealmaking among the main drivers.
But the valuation is starting to do some work of its own. Reuters Breakingviews noted Goldman and Morgan Stanley now trade at price-to-book ratios above pre-financial-crisis levels — price-to-book compares the share price with the firm’s net assets — leaving less room for a stumble if deal flow cools or trading normalizes.
Investors now look for follow-through: whether the deal chatter turns into sustained fee growth and how quickly costs settle after a heavy investment cycle. Another clear marker is the Federal Reserve’s Jan. 27–28 policy meeting.
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