Goldman Sachs tops profit estimates as equities, asset and wealth management outperform

Summary

CNBC's Leslie Picker reports on Goldman Sachs' fourth-quarter earnings, which beat estimates despite the Apple Card program transition to J.P. Morgan. Goldman's Global Banking and Markets unit posted strong revenue and record annual revenue, investment banking fees rose, and asset and wealth management beat expectations. Morgan Stanley also released quarterly results at the same time, but no details are given in the transcript.

• Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley released quarterly results simultaneously.
• Goldman's Q4 EPS benefited by about $0.46 from the Apple Card deal.
• Goldman had a $2.3 billion net revenue reduction from the Apple Card transition, offset by a reserve release.
• Goldman generated $13.45 billion in Q4 revenue.
• Global Banking and Markets revenue was $10.4 billion, $1 billion above estimates and up 22% year over year.
• Investment banking fees rose 25% on completed M&A, and backlog increased significantly year over year.
• Equity trading had a sizable beat, while FICC was higher and equity underwriting missed estimates.
• Asset and wealth management beat expectations; Goldman raised medium-term targets for the unit.