Goldman, JPMorgan Post Record Revenue on AI Boom
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- Goldman Sachs posted Q2 revenue of $20.3 billion, up 39% year-over-year, with equities trading revenue surging 72% to $7.42 billion and investment banking revenue jumping 55% to $3.4 billion — sending shares up 8% on the day.
- JPMorgan Chase reported Q2 revenue of $58 billion, up 27%, with equities trading revenue soaring 86% to $6 billion and investment banking revenue climbing 30% to $3.3 billion.
- Bank of America saw equity trading revenue rise 70% to $3.6 billion and investment banking fees jump 50% to $2.1 billion, while Morgan Stanley is scheduled to report Wednesday.
- Goldman Sachs was lead advisor on the SpaceX IPO and Alphabet's $90 billion equity issuance in the quarter, and CEO David Solomon told analysts the bank is "in the middle of an AI capex super cycle" preparing for a three-to-five year investment window still in early stages.
- JPMorgan Chase CFO Jeremy Barnum said AI is "everywhere in financial markets," citing big IPOs, index rebalancing and heavy Asian activity as downstream effects of the global AI theme.
- Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo raised price targets on Goldman and JPMorgan after the results, naming those firms plus Morgan Stanley as the top beneficiaries of an AI investment boom that "reached a tipping point" in Q2.
Why it matters: The AI capex cycle is now translating directly into Wall Street fee revenue: Goldman and JPMorgan alone beat analyst expectations by roughly $5.4 billion across equities trading and investment banking, with Goldman advising on marquee deals like the SpaceX IPO and Alphabet's $90 billion raise. That recasts megabanks — not just chipmakers — as the financial plumbing of the AI buildout, with Solomon framing it as a multi-year super cycle.
