Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS) has reported blowout financial results for the year’s second quarter.
Goldman Sachs announced earnings per share (EPS) of $20.98 U.S., which is far ahead of the $14.48 U.S. that had been forecast among analysts. The profit was up 92% year-over-year.
Revenue in the April through June quarter totaled $20.34 billion U.S., which handily beat the $16.13 billion U.S. that had been expected on Wall Street. Sales rose 39% from a year earlier.
Both quarterly revenue and earnings per share were a record for Goldman Sachs in Q2.
The bank also announced that it is raising its quarterly dividend to $5.00 U.S. per share, up 11% from $4.50 U.S. previously.
Going forward, the stock of Goldman Sachs will have a dividend yield of nearly 2%.
Management attributed the strong quarterly financial results to booming stock trading and stronger underwriting activity as the number of deals taking place on Wall Street rises.
Goldman Sachs was a lead underwriter on the June initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX (SPCX), which was the biggest market debut in history, raising $85.7 billion U.S.
The investment bank added that its annualized return on average common shareholders’ equity, a key measure of profitability, rose to 23.5% from 12.8% a year ago.
Return on tangible common equity reached a strong 25.5% during Q2. Revenue from stock trading increased 72% year-over-year to a record $7.42 billion U.S.
Investment-banking fees at Goldman Sachs increased 55% to $3.40 billion U.S., while underwriting revenue more than doubled to $985 million U.S. in the quarter.
GS stock has increased 47% in the past 12 months to trade at $1,045.91 U.S. per share.
