Earnings above expectations in the third quarter for two of Wall Street's largest investment banks. Goldman Sachs closed the period with net income of $2,52 billion (up 19% over the same quarter last year) and inflows of $8,65 billion. Both items are growing and earnings per share (at $6,28, compared to $5,02 a year ago) exceeded the $5,38 expected by analysts on average. Net revenues instead amounted to 8,65 billion dollars (+4% on an annual basis).
As for the first nine months of 2018, earnings amounted to 7,92 billion dollars (19,21 per share, compared to 14,11 a year ago) and net revenues to 28,08 billion.
“Year-to-date earnings per share are the highest in our history,” said Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. “Year-to-date return on capital (ROE) is the highest in nine years despite continued investments in growth opportunities".
Same script at home Morgan Stanley, which recorded a result of 2,15 billion dollars in the first quarter (from 1,78 billion in the same period last year), compared to inflows of 9,9 billion. Also in this case, earnings per share (at $1,17, up 26% from 93 cents a year ago) exceeded analysts' average forecasts, which didn't go beyond $1,01.
On the other hand, revenues increased by 7%, from 9,2 to 9,87 billion dollars, against expectations of approximately 9,5 billion. Revenues from institutional clients rose to $4,93 billion, above estimates, while those from wealth management reached 4,4 billion and those from trading and equity sales increased from 1,9 to 2 billion dollars.
