Goldman Sachs Q3 earnings beat, bolstered by strong asset and wealth management growth

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) stock rose 3.3% in Tuesday premarket trading after the Wall Street bank's Q3 top and bottom lines exceeded consensus estimates even as markets-related revenue eased from an unusually strong Q2.

Solid growth in its asset and wealth management business helped to offset the less hectic markets activity in Q3.

Q3 GAAP EPS of $17.01, topping the average analyst estimate of $13.09, fell from $20.98 in Q2 and $12.25 in last year’s Q3.

Total revenue of $18.7B, beating the $16.9B consensus, declined from $20.3B in the prior quarter and climbed from $15.2B a year ago.

Q3 net interest income of $3.77B, missing the Visible Alpha consensus of $3.79B, declined from $3.95B in Q2 and $3.86B in Q3 2025.

"Against the backdrop of a complicated operating environment, our clients continued to turn to Goldman Sachs for our world-class advice, execution, and financing capabilities, resulting in our second-highest quarterly net revenues and record year-to-date net revenues," said Chairman and CEO David Solomon.

Provision for credit losses of $368M, lower than the Visible Alpha consensus of $388M, increased from $102M in the previous quarter and $339M a year ago.

Total operating expenses of $11.3B, compared with the Visible Alpha estimate of $11.0B, fell from $11.7B in Q2 2025 and increased from $9.46B in last year’s Q3.

Annualized return on average common shareholders' equity was 18.7%, down 4.8 percentage points from the prior quarter and up 4.5 pp from the year-ago quarter.

Loans of $276B at Sept. 30, 2026, grew from $261B at June 30, 2026. Deposits of $568B increased from $558B at the end of Q2.

Headcount totaled 47,500, up from 46,200 at the end of Q2 2026.

Global Banking & Market net revenue of $13.5B slid 13% Q/Q and jumped 32% Y/Y. Investment banking fees of $3.22B fell 5% Q/Q and rose 21% Y/Y. FICC net revenue of $3.47B dropped 24% Q/Q and slipped 1% Y/Y. Equity revenue of $6.44B dipped 13% Q/Q and surged 72% Y/Y.

Asset & Wealth Management net revenue of $5.06B grew 10% Q/Q and 14% Y/Y; management and other fees totaled $3.59B, up 7% Q/Q and 22% Y/Y.

Platform Solutions net revenue of $170M declined 23% Q/Q and 72% Y/Y.