Investing.com - Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) topped fourth-quarter earnings estimates on Wednesday, helped by strong results from its investment banking division that bucked the trend set so far this year by its Wall Street rivals.
The firm reported earnings per share of $6.04 on revenue of $8.08 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com expected EPS of $4.42 on revenue of $7.59 billion. That compared to EPS of $5.68 on revenue of $10.93 billion in the same period a year earlier. The company had reported EPS of $6.28 on revenue of $8.65 billion in the previous quarter.
The company's investment banking division reported net revenue of $7.86 billion, thanks to a strong performance in underwriting and the biggest jump in financial advisory revenue since 2007. It also became the first Wall Street bank so far to show growth in trading revenues in the fourth quarter, as a 17% rise in equities trading revenue offset losses from bond trading.
"We are pleased with our performance for the year, achieving stronger top and bottom line results despite a challenging backdrop for our market-making businesses in the second half," Chairman and CEO David Solomon said in a statement.
Goldman Sachs shares gained 3.52% to trade at $186.25 in pre-market trade following the report.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) also posted a strong Q4 Wednesday
Bank of America earnings, which were announced earlier Wednesday, also beat analysts' expectations, with fourth-quarter EPS of $0.70 on revenue of $22.74 billion. Investing.com analysts expected EPS of $0.63 on revenue of $22.36 billion.
By contrast, JPMorgan had fallen short of forecasts in its fourth quarter, published on Tuesday. It had EPS of $1.98 on revenue of $26.8 billion, compared to forecasts of EPS of $2.20 on revenue of $26.9 billion.
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