Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s profit shot higher in the second quarter, as accelerating economic growth and market gains lifted many of the Wall Street firm’s business lines.
Goldman reported quarterly profit of $5.49 billion, or $15.02 a share, on revenue of $15.39 billion. Both measures were up significantly from a year ago and better than the expectations of analysts polled by FactSet, who forecast profit of $10.25 a share.
This spring’s rapid U.S. economic recovery, helped by the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and extensive business reopening and hiring, energized banks’ deal makers. Corporate chieftains and buyout firms put hundreds of billions of dollars to work in big-ticket acquisitions. Investors gobbled up billions of dollars of stock sold by startups in marquee initial public offerings and private fundraising rounds. Goldman’s investment bankers brought in $3.61 billion in fees in the second quarter, up 36% from last year’s second quarter.
Fees from arranging initial public offerings and other stock sales rose 18% to $1.24 billion, while fees from advising on mergers increased 83% to $1.26 billion.
Goldman was an adviser on many of the quarter’s largest deals, including AT&T Inc.’s combination of its WarnerMedia division with Discovery Inc., Medline Industries Inc.’s sale to a group of private-equity firms and Microsoft Corp.’s $16 billion acquisition of Nuance Communications Inc.
