Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported a sharply higher profit for the fourth quarter, marking a turbulent year in which the Wall Street firm benefited from the rapid recovery of markets from the worst pandemic-induced recession.
Goldman reported a quarterly profit of $ 4.51 billion or $ 12.08 a share on Tuesday, more than double its level from the same quarter a year ago. Revenue of $ 11.74 billion was 18% above the level in the fourth quarter of 2019. Both measures were much better than the expectations of analysts surveyed by FactSet, which forecasts a profit of $ 7.39 per share on revenue of $ 9.99 billion.
Goldman’s year-round revenue of $ 44.56 billion was the highest since 2009, while annual trading revenues reached a 10-year high.
For the US banking industry, 2020 was a roller coaster year. Markets declined and economic activity declined in the spring as the coronavirus spread across the country. With many businesses closed and many consumers out of work, banks have dressed up as defaults on a large scale. A robust federal spending program helped prevent the worst economic scenario, and in earnings reports last week, the bank’s executives reported that the economy held up better than expected.
On Friday, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said fourth-quarter profit rose 42 percent to a record $ 12.14 billion after the bank released $ 2.9 billion from its previously allocated stockpile to cover sour loans. On Tuesday, Bank of America Corp. said profit fell 22 percent but exceeded analysts’ expectations after releasing $ 828 million from its loan loss reserves.