Goldman Sachs set a new record for equity trading revenue. Its stock price soared

Goldman Sachs broke its record for equity trading revenue, which reached $7.42 billion in the second quarter. This marks the third consecutive quarterly report in which the bank’s trading division has not only reached its own all-time high but also set a record for the entire banking industry. The division’s revenue over the past three months is more than what it earned in all of 2019, Bloomberg notes.

This success was made possible against the backdrop of rapid growth in stock market indices and ongoing market volatility, triggered by the hype surrounding artificial intelligence and events in the Middle East, the agency reports.

During trading on July 14, Goldman shares rose nearly 8%, marking their biggest intraday gain since April 2025, according to Bloomberg. Year-to-date, the bank’s shares are up 28%.

In the second quarter, revenue from Goldman Sachs’ equity trading division jumped 72% to $7.42 billion, driven by both client financing and profits from managing their trading strategies, according to a statement from the bank.

Financial indicators for other business segments also showed growth. Revenue from interest-bearing instruments increased by 39.3%, totaling $4.59 billion.

Fee income from investment banking rose 55% to $3.4 billion, exceeding expectations after a disappointing first quarter, Bloomberg notes. This is the division’s best performance since 2021—thanks to strong activity in M&A and securities offerings, the agency reports. In the second quarter, Goldman was among the lead underwriters for SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO and Alphabet’s stock offering.

The bank controls more than a third of the mergers and acquisitions market: this year, it advised on deals totaling $1 trillion, reaching that figure in record time for the industry, according to Bloomberg. Revenue from M&A advisory services rose 17% in the second quarter and 46% in the first half of the year. “The volume of deals we’ve handled has reached a five-year high and is the second-highest on record,” said Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.

The bank's total net revenue also reached a record high: it rose 39% to $20.3 billion.

In addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars in commissions that SpaceX paid to underwriters for conducting the IPO itself, these financial institutions also profited from arranging debt financing for the now-public company, CNBC noted. Furthermore, they were able to attract new millionaires and billionaires—who emerged as a result of the listing—to manage their capital. And on top of that, they likely received so-called “soft dollars,” Jay Ritter, professor emeritus of finance at the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida, told the network, referring to indirect benefits and other opportunities to generate revenue through participation in such a large transaction.

However, according to Solomon, its impact on the bank’s financial results was minimal. “If you look at our $20 billion in quarterly revenue, the SpaceX IPO was an insignificant part of that. It’s just one of many elements of our work with clients,” he said in an interview with CNBC after the report was released. Revenue from Goldman’s equity underwriting division jumped 130% in the second quarter.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor