A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Goldman Sachs (GS Quick QuoteGS - Free Report) . Shares have added about 4% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.

But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Goldman due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at the latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent catalysts for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late.

Goldman Q1 Earnings Beat on Record Equities Revenues

Goldman reported first-quarter 2026 earnings per share of $17.55, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.4%. The metric also rose 24.3% from $14.12 a year ago.

Driven by the volatile market, Goldman posted record net revenues in Equities of $5.33 billion, which rose 27% from a year ago, while its fixed income, currencies, and commodities intermediation business, revenue fell 10% year over year to $4.01 billion. A solid dealmaking activity led investment banking (IB) fees to jump 48% to $2.84 billion in the quarter. Advisory fees saw a remarkable 89% increase in the first quarter, driven by higher completed mergers and acquisitions volumes. 

Goldman’s overall results have benefited from solid revenue growth in the Global Banking & Markets, and Asset & Wealth Management divisions while profitability was underscored by an annualized return on equity (ROE) of 19.8%.  However, rise in expenses and provision for credit losses were headwinds.

Net earnings attributable to common shareholders were $5.40 billion, up 18% year over year.

Revenues & Expenses Increase

Net revenues were $17.23 billion, marking a 14.4% year-over-year increase and beating the consensus mark by 1.5%.

On the cost side, operating expenses were $10.43 billion, up 14% year over year. Management attributed the increase largely to significantly higher transaction-based expenses and higher compensation and benefits costs, reflecting improved operating performance.

Even with higher costs, the efficiency ratio in the first quarter of 2026 was essentially unchanged at 60.5%, indicating that the revenue momentum broadly kept pace with expense growth.

Provision for credit losses was $315 million, up from $287 million in the year-ago quarter, and was attributed primarily to growth and impairments related to wholesale loans. This contrasted with the prior quarter, which benefited from a large reserve reduction related to the Apple Card loan transfer.

Quarterly Segmental Performance

Asset & Wealth Management business generated net revenues of $4.08 billion, up 10% from the prior-year quarter. The improvement primarily reflected higher management and other fees, which benefited from higher average assets under supervision, partially offset by softer Private banking and lending, driven by lower deposit spreads related to Marcus deposits.

The quarter also featured continued scale gains in the franchise. Total assets under supervision increased to a record $3.65 trillion at the quarter’s end, with $87 billion of total net inflows and $62 billion of long-term net inflows, spanning wealth management, third-party distributed and institutional channels. 

Global Banking & Markets business produced net revenues of $12.74 billion in the quarter, up 19% from the year-ago period. The improvement was driven by a rise in net revenues in Equities (including an increase in net revenues in financing) and advisory revenues. However, lower fixed income, currency and commodities offset the rise.

Platform Solutions business posted net revenues of $411 million for the quarter compared with $610 million a year ago. The decline was attributed to net markdowns in net revenues tied to the Apple Card loan portfolio, which had been transferred to held for sale in 2025.

Balance Sheet & Capital Position

Goldman ended first-quarter 2026 with total assets of $2.06 trillion versus $1.81 trillion at the end of fourth quarter 2025, while deposits rose to $561 billion from $501 billion in the prior quarter.

Capital ratios moved lower sequentially. The standardized CET1 capital ratio was 12.5% at March 31, 2026, down from 14.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025. The supplementary leverage ratio was 4.6% versus 5.2% in the prior quarter.

In the quarter, the firm returned $6.38 billion in capital to common shareholders, including $5 billion in common share repurchases and $1.38 billion in common stock dividends.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

In the past month, investors have witnessed a flat trend in estimates revision.

VGM Scores

At this time, Goldman has a poor Growth Score of F, however its Momentum Score is doing a lot better with a C. Following the exact same course, the stock has a grade of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for value investors.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of F. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Goldman has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.