GOLDMAN SACHS PROFIT MORE THAN DOUBLES FOR 4TH QUARTER OF 2020

Goldman Sachs Group Inc dwarfed Wall Street estimates as its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled, powered by another blowout performance at its trading business and a surge in fees from underwriting a series of blockbuster IPOs, Anirban Sen and Matt Scuffham reported for Reuters.

Revenue from global markets, which houses the bank’s trading business, registered its best annual performance in a decade as investors churned their portfolios at the end of a roller-coaster year for financial markets amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trading, Goldman’s main revenue-generating engine, surged 43% annually. On a quarterly basis, revenue from the unit jumped 23% to $4.27 billion. Investment banking revenue jumped 27% to $2.61 billion during the quarter, driven mainly by equity underwriting, which was up 195% from the same period last year.

Equities trading and investment banking revenues both comfortably beat forecasts, Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski said. “It was an exceptionally strong quarter.”

The bank’s shares surged 2.6% in early trading, adding to a 20% gain in the past year. Goldman’s shares hit a record high of $307.87 last week, giving it a market cap of over $100 billion. Total revenue climbed 18% to $11.74 billion.

The bank’s net earnings applicable to common shareholders rose to $4.36 billion, or $12.08 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31. Analysts had expected a profit of $7.47 per share on average, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

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