Goldman Posts Near-30% EPS Beat as Equities Surge; JPMorgan Misses for First Time in Three Years

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase filed their third-quarter results on October 13, splitting Wall Street's attention between a blowout and a rare disappointment from the two largest names in U.S. banking.

Goldman's numbers landed well outside the range analysts had penciled in. <cite index="11-1,11-2">Goldman disclosed third-quarter earnings of $17.01 per diluted share, a jump from $12.25 a share in the same period last year, with net revenues reaching $18.68 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2026.</cite> <cite index="11-4">Analysts had expected earnings of $12.86 per share and revenue of $16.83 billion, according to Barron's, citing FactSet data.</cite> That is a bottom-line beat of roughly 32 percent, not a rounding error.

The driver was equities. <cite index="14-10,14-11">Trading was the key driver, with equities revenue jumping 72% to $6.44 billion as volatile markets pushed investors to reshuffle their portfolios.</cite> <cite index="17-6">Equities financing alone rose 96% to a record $3.37 billion, with intermediation up 52%.</cite> Fixed income was the exception: <cite index="14-13,14-14">fixed income was softer, with revenue of $3.47 billion, down 1% from last year.</cite>

Investment banking held its own. <cite index="15-7">Goldman's advisory revenue hit $1.65 billion in the third quarter, up 18% from a year earlier, as the firm closed more deals, a figure the company says is its highest ever.</cite> <cite index="14-15">Investment banking fees overall were up 21% to $3.22 billion.</cite> On the wealth side, <cite index="14-17">asset and wealth management revenue rose 14%, management fees hit a record $3.6 billion, and assets under supervision reached $4.1 trillion.</cite>

One number that trimmed the headline slightly: <cite index="12-19">the company said EPS would have been about $18.00 excluding a $450 million accelerated charitable contribution, which means underlying profitability was even stronger than the headline number suggests.</cite> <cite index="16-9">Net earnings reached $5.294 billion, translating to a return on equity of 18.7% and return on tangible equity of 20.5%.</cite>

The picture at JPMorgan was different. <cite index="25-1">JPMorgan posted earnings of $5.57 per share, underperforming the $5.85 per share forecast by analysts and marking its first profit miss in nearly three years, according to LSEG data.</cite> <cite index="20-12">Net income still rose 6% from last year to $15.3 billion and revenue rose 8% to $50.2 billion,</cite> so the miss was narrow in absolute terms. The gap between the two banks traced back to fixed income and deal flow: <cite index="25-6,25-7">the markets division delivered a 15% annual increase in revenue, propelled by a 49% surge in equities trading, but fixed income trading registered a 4% decrease from the previous year.</cite>

<cite index="24-8,24-9">Deal-making was the weak spot, as rate uncertainty, high energy prices, and geopolitical tensions kept many deals on the sidelines.</cite> Management tried to frame that as temporary. In a media call reported by CNBC, <cite index="19-2">JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum said the deals pipeline remains robust and he thinks deals are being "delayed rather than canceled."</cite> That's the kind of forward guidance worth treating with care until the pipeline converts.

JPMorgan did offer one piece of concrete forward guidance worth noting: <cite index="22-9">net interest income, excluding markets, rose 6% to $24.7 billion, and average loans grew 10% from a year ago.</cite> The bank raised its full-year net interest income outlook even as the quarterly miss weighed on the stock.

For Goldman, management raised its alternatives fundraising target. <cite index="12-10">Management raised the full-year fundraising target for alternatives to about $150 billion.</cite> <cite index="16-10">Year-to-date net revenues of $56.244 billion represented record levels for the nine-month period.</cite>

Market reaction reflected the divergence. <cite index="5-8,5-9">Goldman stock was nearly 4% higher on the day, while JPMorgan was up about 1% and Wells Fargo shares fell almost 3%.</cite> The split result going into Q4 sets up a straightforward test: whether Goldman's equities windfall repeats or reverts, and whether the deal pipeline Barnum described actually closes.

Sources cited:
- Qz.com - Goldman Sachs Q3 2026 earnings beat Wall Street estimates (https://qz.com/goldman-sachs-third-quarter-earnings-beat-101326)
- Investing.com - Bank Earnings Q3 2026: Goldman +30% Beat, JPMorgan Misses Revenue (https://www.investing.com/analysis/bank-earnings-q3-2026-goldman-30-beat-jpmorgan-misses-revenue-200689491)
- CNBC - Bank earnings takeaways: How JPMorgan, Goldman, Wells Fargo and Citi performed in Q3 (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/13/bank-earnings-live-updates.html)
- TIKR - Goldman Sachs Stock Climbs After Q3 Revenue Beat (https://www.tikr.com/blog/goldman-sachs-stock-q3-2026-earnings-beat-equities-surge)
- Fortune - Wall Street's big banks deliver mixed earnings (https://fortune.com/2026/10/14/wall-streets-big-banks-deliver-mixed-earnings-executives-bet-the-ipo-lull-wont-last/)
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- Kaohoon International - JPMorgan Misses Profit Expectations in Q3 (https://www.kaohooninternational.com/markets/592602)
- Yahoo Finance / TIKR - JPMorgan Chase Raises Full-Year Net Interest Income Outlook (https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/jpmorgan-chase-raises-full-net-082840712.html)