New York, January 8, 2026, 14:57 EST — Regular session
Goldman Sachs shares were down 0.7% on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. said it struck an agreement to transition the Apple Card program and associated accounts to JPMorgan Chase’s Chase. Goldman said the move should lift its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings by about $0.46 a share, driven by a $2.48 billion release of loan-loss reserves — money set aside for expected credit losses — even as it takes a $2.26 billion hit to net revenue tied to markdowns and contract costs.
The timing matters for traders because the deal sharpens the line under Goldman’s consumer push just as bank earnings come into view, while giving JPMorgan another leg in co-branded cards. JPMorgan said the purchase is estimated to bring over $20 billion of Apple Card balances onto Chase’s platform and that it expects to recognize a $2.2 billion provision for credit losses in the fourth quarter of 2025 tied to the forward purchase commitment.
On the numbers, Evercore estimated the transaction would lift Goldman’s fourth-quarter earnings per share by $0.46 and raised its Q4 2025 EPS estimate by about 4% to $11.57. The firm also flagged an estimated 40-basis-point boost to Goldman’s CET1 capital ratio — a key measure of a bank’s core capital strength, where a basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point — if the deal were completed today.
Apple said cardholders should see no immediate change in how they use the card during the transition, with Mastercard staying on as the payment network. Jennifer Bailey, Apple’s vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, said Apple Card has “transformed the credit card experience,” while Chase cards chief Allison Beer called Apple an “iconic brand.” Apple
Goldman’s move landed on a session when Wall Street was mixed and investors were looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, a print that can quickly reset interest-rate expectations. Those expectations feed directly into bank sentiment because they shape everything from lending spreads to trading activity.
The Apple Card pivot also puts fresh focus on Goldman’s core fee engines, including dealmaking. Goldman topped global M&A rankings in 2025 with $1.48 trillion in deals advised, LSEG data showed, and its global co-head of M&A Stephan Feldgoise described 2025 as an “exceptional M&A year” in the bank’s 2026 outlook. Reuters
But the exit is not frictionless. JPMorgan is paying about $1 billion less than the portfolio’s face value, the Financial Times reported, and the handover is expected to take about two years — a long window for credit performance and final accounting to shift.
What’s next is the earnings drumbeat: JPMorgan kicks off bank reporting on Jan. 13, with Goldman due on Jan. 15, when investors will look for how the Apple Card transition flows through results and how management frames the consumer wind-down versus its banking and markets franchise.
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