Goldman Sachs reported a record quarter driven by a surge in investment banking (M&A volumes up 90%, record debt underwriting), a massive 60% jump in equity intermediation revenues, and record equity financing revenues up 91% YoY, largely from Asian prime. Management is highly bullish, framing the AI capex cycle as a multi-year tailwind and noting that demand for financing is outstripping their willingness to supply. Record Q2 revenues of $20.3B and EPS of $20.98, with significant operating leverage (efficiency ratio 58.8%).
Goldman Sachs reported a record quarter driven by a surge in investment banking (M&A volumes up 90%, record debt underwriting), a massive 60% jump in equity intermediation revenues, and record equity financing revenues up 91% YoY, largely from Asian prime. Management is highly bullish, framing the AI capex cycle as a multi-year tailwind and noting that demand for financing is outstripping their willingness to supply. Record Q2 revenues of $20.3B and EPS of $20.98, with significant operating leverage (efficiency ratio 58.8%).
Goldman Sachs reported a record quarter driven by a surge in investment banking (M&A volumes up 90%, record debt underwriting), a massive 60% jump in equity intermediation revenues, and record equity financing revenues up 91% YoY, largely from Asian prime. Management is highly…
Record Q2 revenues of $20.3B and EPS of $20.98, with significant operating leverage (efficiency ratio 58.8%).
Equities financing revenues up 91% YoY, driven by record prime balances and strength in Asia, explicitly linked to AI capital formation.
Investment banking backlog at a 5-year high even after a record revenue quarter; strategic M&A dialogue for large-cap deals is robust.
Management sees AI as a durable, early-stage investment cycle expanding capital needs beyond core tech into infrastructure, energy, and data centers, creating demand for Goldman's financing, structuring, risk management, and capital markets execution. Internally, AI is framed as a productivity multiplier that enhances, rather than replaces, their talent.
Management's tone is highly optimistic, framing the AI investment cycle as a multi-year tailwind driving elevated M&A, financing, and capital markets activity, with strong confidence in the firm's ability to capture these opportunities.
Management did not cite Goldman-specific capex, but described client AI infrastructure capex as a multi-year cycle that is expanding capital needs and driving financing demand. They also raised full-year alternatives fundraising guidance to over $125 billion, signaling capacity to deploy into these private-market capital needs.
Management repeatedly used superlatives like 'record results' and 'very confident,' framing tailwinds as durable and multi-year while only briefly cautioning that things rarely move in a straight line.
“We identified Asia. We identified it a while ago. We made the decision to start ramping that up in the first quarter... You obviously see we're at the end of the second quarter and we have revenues that are resulting from those investments.”
“We are in the middle of an AI CapEx super cycle where there are demands on financing into every single financing instrument in every region of the world and across every single industry.”
“Given the strength we've seen year-to-date, we now expect full-year fundraising to exceed $125 billion.”
“As David noted, our investment banking backlog increased to its highest level in five years, even with the very strong revenue production this quarter.”
| Metric | Period | Range | Midpoint | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | FY2026 | $125B | $125B | RAISED |
| Units | FY2026 Q2 | $5 | $5 | MAINTAINED |
Alphabet's equity raise is a major capital markets event, contributing to GS's record equity underwriting revenues.
“This includes acting as lead left book runner on the record-breaking IPO for SpaceX and equity raise for Alphabet, as well as advising Dominion Energy's sale to Nextera Energy and Comcast's spinoff of NBC Universal.”
… Beyond the infrastructure build out, companies large and small are working to integrate AI into their operations, increasing demand for advice and execution capabilities as they adapt to a rapidly evolving competitive landscape. Against this backdrop, The trust we have built with clients over decades continues to position Goldman Sachs at the center of their most strategic and consequential transactions. This includes acting as lead left book runner on the record-breaking IPO for SpaceX and equity raise for Alphabet, as well as advising Dominion Energy's sale to Nextera Energy and Comcast's spinoff of NBC Universal. We've further expanded our lead as the number one M&A advisor and earlier this year became the first bank to cross the $1 trillion in announced volumes over a six-month period. This long-standing leadership combined with our one golden tax operating ethos creates a real multiplier effect. Our advisory relationships are often the genesis of client activity across the franchise. What starts as an advisory mandate in the boardroom increasingly extends into opportunities for our capital solutions group Thank you for joining us. Thank you very much. Thank you. Beyond …
GS's appointment to manage Verizon's retirement plan demonstrates the growing demand for integrated OCIO solutions in the corporate pension space.
“We continue to scale our solutions platform, and last week we were appointed to manage both Verizon's and Lockheed Martin's retirement plans, which collectively represent $70 billion in assets under supervision.”
… billion in private credit this quarter alone, a testament to our strong track record of performance and our clients' continued desire to partner with experienced investors like Goldman Sachs. More broadly, demand for private markets remains robust as clients deploy capital across credit, equity, and real assets, and our ability to originate and structure opportunities continues to differentiate our offering. We continue to scale our solutions platform, and last week we were appointed to manage both Verizon's and Lockheed Martin's retirement plans, which collectively represent $70 billion in assets under supervision. These mandates from large, sophisticated corporate pension sponsors underscore the growing demand for comprehensive, integrated OCIO solutions capable of managing complex portfolios across public and private markets. As a leading provider of OCIO services globally, we are well positioned to capture this attractive secular growth opportunity. We are also further accelerating growth across asset and wealth management through targeted acquisitions that are enhancing and scaling our capabilities. Our recent acquisitions, Industry Ventures and Innovator, are both showing …
Management notes significant demand for financing across all instruments and regions, attributing it to the AI capex super-cycle that outstrips their willingness to supply, implying a pricing power shift towards lenders. — The demand for balance sheet to fund AI infrastructure is creating a seller's market for financing, allowing banks like Goldman to be more selective on pricing and terms.
Okay, thank you. On expenses, you know, pretty impressive. I think your efficiency ratio for the first half was under your 60% target. And I think you're still investing in kind of cloud and AI under GS 3.0, GS1, GS1, GS3.0. So just curious about kind of how much of the expense or efficiency gains you've had so far is a function of, you know, just a strength in the markets business? versus kind of what you've already taken out from a structural cost perspective.
So in the case of prime, also in the case of fixed financing, as has been the case, There continues to be far more demand across the client segment than we're willing to engage when we balance our objectives of serving our clients, driving market share, but also being balanced, diversified, and focusing on risk management. We're at a moment in time where the demands for the provision of financing are are outstripping what we think is the appropriate quantum. That should come as no surprise. We are in the middle of an AI CapEx super cycle where there are demands on financing into every single financing instrument in every region of the world and across every single industry. So it's a function of deploying our resources as efficiently as we can to serve our clients as best we can. but we're at a moment in time where there's more demand right now.
Record gross third-party alternatives fundraising of $59 billion in Q2, leading to an upward revision of full-year fundraising guidance to exceed $125 billion from a prior $75-100 billion target. — The strength in alternatives fundraising is largely in private credit, where Goldman is winning mandates, indicating further market share gains in the space.
… by $91 billion of long-term net inflows across asset classes, particularly in equity assets. This marks our 34th consecutive quarter of long-term fee-based net inflows. Turning to page 7 on alternatives. Alternative AUS totaled $459 billion at the end of the second quarter, driving $725 million in management and other fees. Gross third-party alternatives fundraising was a record $59 billion for the quarter and $85 billion for the first half of the year. Given the strength we've seen year-to-date, we now expect full-year fundraising to exceed $125 billion. On page 8, platform solution revenues were $221 million in the quarter. We expect quarterly revenues for the remainder of the year to be broadly consistent with the second quarter. On page 9, firm-wide net interest income was $4 billion in the second quarter. Our total loan portfolio increased 3% sequentially to $261 billion, primarily reflecting growth in other collateralized and residential real estate loans. Our provision for credit losses of $102 million primarily reflected impairments related to wholesale loans. Turn to expenses on page 10. Total operating expenses were $11.7 billion for the quarter and $22.1 billion for …