How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.
Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Goldman Sachs (GS) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to GS for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Goldman Sachs' Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Goldman Sachs' main business drivers.
Founded in 1869, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global financial holding company providing IB, securities, investment management, and consumer banking services to a diversified client base. The company is headquartered in New York, with offices in major financial centers globally.
Goldman provides its services through the following broad segments:
The Global Banking and Markets segment (constitutes 66.6% of net revenues as of Sept. 30, 2025) generates revenues from IB fees, including advisory, and equity and debt underwriting fees, Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities (FICC) intermediation and financing activities and Equities intermediation and financing activities. The segment also includes relationship lending and acquisition financing (and related hedges) and investing activities related to its Global Banking & Markets activities.
The Asset and Wealth Management segment (28.9%) generates revenues from management and other fees, incentive fees, equity investments and debt investments, as well as private banking and lending.
The Platform Solutions segment (4.4%) generates revenues from consumer platforms, and transaction banking and other platform businesses.
In 2023, Goldman completed the divestiture of its Personal Financial Management unit to Creative Planning, resulting in a gain of $349 million.
In 2022, the company acquired robo-advisor, NextCapital and Dutch asset manager, NN Investment Partners from NN Group N.V. The company also closed the acquisition of GreenSky in an all-stock transaction. In 2020 and 2019, Goldman completed its purchase of Folio Financial and United Capital, respectively.
Bottom Line
Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio requires research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Goldman Sachs, ten years ago, you're likely feeling pretty good about your investment today.
A $1000 investment made in November 2015 would be worth $4,105.12, or a 310.51% gain, as of November 12, 2025, according to our calculations. Investors should note that this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 229.96% and gold's return of 265.79% over the same time frame.
Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for GS.
Shares of Goldman have outperformed the industry in the past year. Its third-quarter results benefited from solid revenue growth in the Global Banking & Markets, and Asset & Wealth Management divisions. It has beaten earnings estimates in the trailing four quarters. The company's refocus on the core strengths of investment banking (IB) and trading businesses through restructuring, along with acquisitions and expansion in private equity credit and the global alternatives market, is expected to boost global presence and diversify revenues. Also, its decent cash levels and solid credit profile will support its capital distribution plan. Yet, given the current geopolitical concerns, Goldman's high dependence on overseas revenues is worrisome. The company's rising expenses due to ongoing investments in technology are concerning.
The stock has jumped 5.13% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 7 higher, for fiscal 2025; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
Zacks Investment Research
