Goldman Sachs Beats Q2 Earnings Forecasts

Goldman Sachs Group (GS 0.68%), a global investment banking and financial services firm, reported results for Q2 2025 on July 16, 2025. The company delivered both GAAP revenue and earnings ahead of analyst estimates, posting GAAP revenue of $14.58 billion versus an expected $13.51 billion and diluted earnings per share (GAAP) of $10.91, surpassing the $9.65 forecast. Compared to the same period last year, total net revenues rose 15% and EPS jumped 26.6%. The firm lifted its quarterly dividend to $4.00 per share, up from $3.00 per share in the prior quarter, effective for Q3 2025, reflecting strong capital returns. Overall, the period saw broad-based gains in investment banking and trading, tempered by some headwinds in asset management and rising credit costs.

Source: Analyst estimates for the quarter provided by FactSet.

Business Overview and Success Factors

Goldman Sachs Group operates as a global provider of investment banking, securities, and investment management services. It works primarily with institutional clients, corporations, governments, and wealthy individuals, offering strategic advisory, securities trading, transaction execution, and asset management.

The business's recent focus has been on strengthening its Global Banking & Markets segment, growing recurring fee income in Asset & Wealth Management, and managing costs in a changing competitive environment. Key success factors include innovation, technological investment—especially in artificial intelligence (AI)—maintaining regulatory compliance, capital strength, and robust risk management. These efforts aim to enhance client service, capture trading and advisory demand, and build more stable sources of revenue.

Quarter Highlights: Results, Segment Trends, and Key Data

Goldman Sachs saw substantial revenue growth in the Global Banking & Markets segment, with net revenues rising 24% year over year to $10.12 billion. Advisory revenue, which covers strategic M&A and restructuring advice, soared 71% to $1.17 billion compared to Q2 2024, reflecting increased mergers and acquisitions activity, especially in the Americas and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa). Equity underwriting revenue was $428 million, flat from Q2 2024, while debt underwriting declined by 5% to $589 million. Equities net revenues—which include buying, selling, and financing stocks for clients—jumped 36% to $4.30 billion, with equities intermediation up 45% and equities financing up 23% compared to Q2 2024.

Fixed Income, Currency, and Commodities (FICC) trading, which is the buying and selling of government and corporate bonds, currencies, and commodities, delivered GAAP net revenues of $3.47 billion, up 9% compared to Q2 2024 but down 21% from the previous quarter. The company noted robust growth in FICC financing, especially in mortgages and structured lending, with that subsegment up 23% to $1.04 billion. However, FICC intermediation revenues—essentially, profits from trading activities—rose just 4%, reflecting some normalization from very strong activity earlier in the year.

In Asset & Wealth Management, which manages investments and offers banking services for clients, net revenues were $3.78 billion. This result was 3% lower than the prior-year period, mainly due to minimal gains in equity investments and a sharp decline in debt investment returns—down 72%. Offsetting these headwinds, recurring revenue streams showed resilience: Management and other fees (GAAP) rose 11% to $2.81 billion, and private banking and lending revenue increased 12% to $789 million compared to Q2 2024. Assets Under Supervision, which measures the total value of client assets in investment and banking accounts, reached a record $3.29 trillion as of June 30, 2025, up 12% compared to Q2 2024.

The Platform Solutions segment, which focuses on consumer platforms such as credit cards and transaction banking for corporate and institutional clients, posted $685 million in net revenues, a 2% increase compared to Q2 2024. Growth here was mainly on the consumer side, up 4% compared to Q2 2024, while transaction banking declined 11%. The segment continued to see modest gains as Goldman Sachs narrowed its focus on consumer-related activities in recent years.

Operating expenses (GAAP) rose 8% compared to the year-ago period, reaching $9.24 billion. This increase was driven by higher compensation and benefits expenses, up 10% compared to Q2 2024, and higher transaction-based expenses. The provision for credit losses (GAAP) climbed sharply to $384 million, a 36% increase compared to Q2 2024, reflecting rising credit card charge-offs and expansion in credit portfolios. The efficiency ratio, which measures how much of every dollar of revenue goes toward expenses, improved to 62.0% year to date, down from 63.8% for the first half of 2024.

On the capital side, the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio—a key regulatory measure of financial strength—stood at 14.5%, comfortably above requirements but slightly lower than the prior year. The firm repurchased 5.3 million shares for $3.0 billion. Capital return to shareholders, including dividends and buybacks, totaled $3.96 billion. The newly declared quarterly dividend of $4.00 per share is up from $3.00 per share in the prior quarter.

Litigation and regulatory provisions dropped to just $1 million, from $104 million in Q2 2024.

Notably, headcount declined 2% from the previous quarter—now at 45,900—but rose 4% year over year. The company continues to invest in automation and AI, notably piloting Devin, an autonomous software engineer, with the aim of driving cost efficiency and productivity gains across its operations.

Looking Ahead: Management Guidance and Future Points to Watch

Management did not provide specific financial guidance for the next quarter or for fiscal 2025 in the latest release. However, it noted that the investment banking backlog—a measure of potential future deal revenue—was higher at the end of the period than both Q1 2025 and year-end 2024, signaling solid momentum for advisory and underwriting businesses into the second half of the year.

Investors should watch trends in credit costs, especially in the consumer credit card portfolio, as rising provisions continue to be a theme across the industry. Weakness in Asset & Wealth Management investment returns could persist if markets remain challenging, and Platform Solutions could face muted growth as direct consumer banking is scaled back. On the positive side, the significant dividend increase and continued share repurchases show management’s view that capital levels are strong and excess capital is available for return to shareholders.

Revenue and net income presented using U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) unless otherwise noted.