Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bank of America delivered stronger-than-expected earnings results for the fourth quarter, sending the banks’ stocks higher.
Goldman reported fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share of $6.05, outpacing analysts’ estimates of $4.53. The firm posted revenue of $8.08 billion for the quarter, topping analysts’ forecasts of $7.54 billion.
"We are pleased with our performance for the year, achieving strong top and bottom line results despite a challenging backdrop for our market-making businesses in the second half," CEO David Solomon said in a statement.
Shares of Goldman spiked more than 4% in the pre-market.
However, Goldman’s fixed income trading posted a big miss, delivering revenue of $822 million, 18% lower than the fourth quarter of 2017. The firm said the results reflected “significantly lower net revenues in credit products and lower net revenues in interest rate products.”
Elsewhere in banking, Bank of America (BAC) reported record earnings on Wednesday, delivering adjusted earnings per share of 70 cents, beating analysts’ estimates of 63 cents.
Revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $22.7 billion, also beating estimates of $22.36 billion.
Shares of Bank of America popped more than 3.5% in the pre-market.
One of the bright spots for Bank of America was its consumer banking business, posting revenues of $9.9 billion, up 10% from a year ago.
Like Goldman and the other banks, though, Bank of America’s fixed income, commodities and currency (FICC) trading revenues were down 15% to $1.4 billion.
JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank by assets, missed on both earnings and revenue. The bank’s revenue was largely impacted by a slump in fixed-income trading, with those results declining 16% on a year-over-year basis.
Citigroup kicked off the earnings season for the banks on Monday, reporting a beat on earnings, but a miss on revenues. Revenues for Citigroup were down 2% on a year-over-year basis due largely because of the slump in fixed-income trading. The bank’s fixed-income trading revenue fell 21% on a year-over-year basis. CEO Michael Corbat attributed that drop to the recent market volatility which has resulted in a challenging trading environment.
Wells Fargo (WFC) reported fourth-quarter results on Tuesday that beat on profit, but missed on revenue. Wells Fargo delivered earnings per share of $1.21, versus estimates of $1.16. Revenue came in at $20.98 billion, missing forecasts of $21.73 billion.
Morgan Stanley (MS) reports on Thursday.
Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.