Goldman Sachs Breaks $1T M&A Record, Citi Hits 10-Year Revenue High
YouTube's finance creators are all pointing the same direction: Wall Street's biggest names just had their best quarter in years, and the market is barely paying attention
Ticker Ratings
While everyone is doom-scrolling chip selloffs and Iran strike alerts, the big banks quietly had an absolutely filthy quarter. Goldman Sachs ($GS) reported $20.3 billion in Q2 revenue, a record, and became the first bank ever to cross $1 trillion in announced M&A volumes in a single six-month period. The bank raised its quarterly dividend to $5 per share and bought back $4 billion in stock. Seeking Alpha's coverage called it a "historic Wall Street record" while their quant model still slapped a hold on it, which feels like giving Beyonce a participation trophy.
Meanwhile, Citigroup ($C) posted $24.8 billion in Q2 revenue, its best in a decade, with net income of $5.8 billion and a fresh $30 billion buyback program. BlackRock ($BLK) also hit record revenue of $7.1 billion with a 45.9% operating margin. The throughline across every Bloomberg and Seeking Alpha breakdown: financials are carrying this market right now, and the sector rotation into banks, industrials, and healthcare is very real.
When Goldman is printing billion-dollar records and Citi is doing its best decade impression simultaneously, maybe the bull market is younger than everyone thinks.