GS Q3 2026 Earnings Analysis

It really is. But before we get into it — this podcast is AI-generated content for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing we discuss should be considered investment advice. Always do your own research and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

And here's the twist — those numbers actually understate how strong the quarter was. Goldman made an accelerated charitable contribution of about $450 million, pulling forward roughly five years of planned philanthropic giving. Strip that out, and EPS would've been closer to $18, with ROE near 20% and ROTE around 21.5%.

Advisory revenue hit a record, $1.7 billion, up 18% year-over-year. Goldman's still the king of M&A — they advised on $1.5 trillion in announced deals year-to-date, with a lead over their closest competitor of about $430 billion. That's the biggest lead they've ever had.

Equities was the real standout though — $6.4 billion in revenue, up 72% year-over-year. Financing revenue within equities rose 96% to a record, driven by elevated prime balances and a lot of activity in Asia.

FICC was more muted — basically flat year-over-year — but financing revenue there rose too. And here's the headline stat for anyone tracking Goldman's long-term strategy: financing now makes up over 40% of combined FICC and Equities revenue year-to-date. That's a durability story, not just a trading story.

Let's not skip Asset & Wealth Management, because the growth there was staggering. Management and other fees hit a record $3.6 billion, up 22% year-over-year. Assets under supervision reached $4.1 trillion — a record — with $97 billion in long-term inflows. That's 35 consecutive quarters of net inflows.

Wealth Management alone pulled in $47 billion in long-term inflows, way ahead of their 5% annual growth target — they're annualizing at 12%. And on the alternatives side, they raised their full-year fundraising target to roughly $150 billion, up from the original $75 to $100 billion range.

Now, the Q&A had some great moments. One analyst asked David Solomon directly about succession rumors that had been circulating in the press.

There was also a really candid exchange about AI infrastructure financing. Solomon was asked whether funding could become the bottleneck for the whole AI buildout, and his answer was refreshingly honest — he basically said nobody knows. He flagged real risk of "crowding out" as data center financing needs scale into the trillions, but emphasized Goldman's uniquely positioned to sit at the center of that ecosystem, advising, structuring, and distributing capital across public and private markets.

On the macro side, rates were a big theme. The Fed hiked in September for the first time in three years, and the 10-year moved about 75 basis points since July. Solomon's take — as a "64-year-old guy" — was that a 5% 10-year treasury isn't scary by historical standards. What matters more is abrupt moves, not the absolute level.

One more interesting nugget — sponsor-backed M&A activity is still running below historical averages, because private equity firms are sitting on 2020 and 2021 vintage investments marked higher than they can currently sell for. Solomon expects that activity to eventually unlock, which would be a tailwind whenever it happens.

Everything discussed is AI-generated analysis for educational purposes. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results. Please do your own due diligence.

And the wildcard going forward is clearly the AI infrastructure financing cycle — Goldman sees itself as a major beneficiary, but even their own CEO admits nobody can predict exactly how that plays out.

See you then.