Goldman Poised for a Major M&A Milestone This Year: What's Driving?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS is on track for a historic year in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), potentially not seen since the early 2000s, as deal-making accelerates. GS has continued to maintain its dominant position in advised and completed M&A deals this year. 

As deal-making activity surges globally, Goldman has secured an outsized share of the lucrative advisory market, controlling roughly 34% of the $3.8 trillion in global M&A announced so far this year, according to the tradingview article, which cited Financial Times. This reflects a 28% surge from the prior year.  

Goldman Tops Wall Street on M&A Deal Value

This dominant share places Goldman firmly at the top of the advisory market, driven by a wave of mega-transactions and a rebound in cross-border dealmaking.

Why Goldman Is Winning Big

Mega-Deals Are Back:  Goldman has capitalized on its deep relationships with corporate boards and private equity sponsors to secure marquee transactions. The firm advised on Electronic Arts’ $55 billion take-private, one of the largest leveraged buyouts ever, earning approximately $110 million in advisory fees. It also guided the $10.9 billion merger between Fifth Third Bancorp and Comerica, creating the ninth-largest bank in the United States.

Year to date, Goldman has advised on nearly $1.1 trillion in M&A volume, securing the top spot in the FT league tables for both deal value and advisory fees, followed by JPMorgan JPM and Morgan Stanley MS.

Goldman Tops Wall Street on M&A Fees

This commanding lead is translating directly into higher advisory revenues. In the first nine months of 2025, Goldman’s M&A advisory fees rose 31% year over year to $3.37 billion. Equity and debt underwriting also grew 7% and 11%, respectively, supporting a 19% year-over-year increase in overall investment banking (IB) fees.

In the first nine months of 2025, JPMorgan reported IB fees of $7.29 billion, up 12% year over year, driven by higher advisory fees (up 10% year over year) and underwriting activity. On the other hand, Morgan Stanley's IB revenues were $5.21 billion in the first nine months of 2025, up 15% from the prior-year period, with advisory fees rising 10% year over year.

Regional Strength: According to GlobalData, Goldman advised on $369 billion in deals, topping the North America region by value in the first nine months of 2025. Also, it led advisors by deal value in Europe with $17.6 billion of transactions.  

Favorable Macroeconomic Environment: Stabilizing interest rates and clearer regulatory frameworks have reduced execution risk for cross-border and mega-deals, encouraging corporates and sponsors to re-engage in M&A activity. Also, expectations for more supportive policies under the Trump administration, especially regarding antitrust review timelines and cross-border approvals, are raising Goldman’s management confidence to transact larger, strategic deals

During the third-quarter earnings call, David Solomon, chairman and CEO of Goldman, highlighted improvements in M&A activity throughout the year and expects the constructive environment to persist through the end of 2025, with even stronger M&A activity anticipated in 2026 amid a favorable backdrop.

Final Words on Goldman M&A Surge

Goldman is benefiting from a powerful confluence of market conditions and strategic positioning. Its commanding share of announced deal value, paired with favorable macroeconomic tailwinds, could make 2025 one of its strongest M&A years in decades.

With the IB backlog at a three-year high and Goldman firmly leading the advisory league tables, the firm appears well-positioned for continued strength ahead. If current trends persist, advisory fees are likely to remain robust—supporting better investment banking performance and potentially boosting overall profitability across the bank.

Goldman’s Price Performance and Zacks Rank

Goldman’s shares have gained 36.1% in a year compared with the industry growth of 24.7%. 

Price Performance

GS currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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