Goldman Sachs (GS) Q4 Earnings Report Preview: What To Look For

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) will be reporting results this Thursday before the bell. Here’s what to look for.

Goldman Sachs beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 6.8% last quarter, reporting revenues of $15.18 billion, up 19.6% year on year. It was a stunning quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

Is Goldman Sachs a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members.

This quarter, analysts are expecting Goldman Sachs’s revenue to decline 2.6% year on year to $13.51 billion, a reversal from the 22.5% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $11.76 per share.

Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Goldman Sachs has a history of exceeding Wall Street’s expectations, beating revenue estimates every single time over the past two years by 6.6% on average.

Looking at Goldman Sachs’s peers in the capital markets segment, some have already reported their Q4 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Jefferies delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 5.7%, beating analysts’ expectations by 3%, and BNY reported revenues up 6.8%, topping estimates by 0.7%. Jefferies traded up 358% following the results while BNY was down 49.4%.

Read our full analysis of Jefferies’s results here and BNY’s results here.

There has been positive sentiment among investors in the capital markets segment, with share prices up 2.5% on average over the last month. Goldman Sachs is up 5.3% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $893.79 (compared to the current share price of $937.23).

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