Goldman Sachs whiffs, profit crashes 60%
Portia Crowe
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Goldman Sachs just reported first-quarter results that missed on the top line but beat on the bottom.
The firm reported diluted earnings per share of $2.68 on revenue of $6.34 billion.
Analysts were expecting adjusted earnings per share of $2.48 on revenue of $7.11 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Net earnings of $1.14 billion were down 59.9% from the same period last year.
"The operating environment this quarter presented a broad range of challenges, resulting in headwinds across virtually every one of our businesses," said CEO Lloyd Blankfein in a statement.
This year, the firm beat analyst expectations on investment banking and total trading revenues — but each of the major divisions was down markedly from the same quarter last year.
Trading revenue came in at $3.44 billion (versus $3.42 billion expected), down 37% from the same quarter a year ago.
Fixed income, currency, and commodities revenues were $1.66 billion ($1.58 billion expected), down 47% from the same quarter last year.
Equities-trading revenue came in at $1.78 billion ($1.84 billion expected), down 23% from the same period a year ago.
Investment-banking revenue came in at $1.46 billion ($1.36 billion expected), down 23% from $1.91 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Within banking, equity-underwriting revenues were $183 million, down 66% from the year-ago period, while debt-underwriting revenues of $509 million were up 24%. Advisory fees were $771 million, down 20% year-on-year.
Outside of trading and banking, investment-management revenues came in at $1.35 billion, down 15% year-on-year, reflecting "significantly lower incentive fees."
Investing and lending revenues came in at $87 million, down from $1.67 billion from the year-ago quarter, hurt by investments in both private and public equities that "were negatively impacted by generally lower global equity prices and corporate performance."
Goldman Sachs COO Gary Cohn and CEO Lloyd Blankfein.
Compensation and benefits expenses were down 40% from the same period last year, but the firm said that reflected lower revenues this quarter. The ratio of compensation and benefits to net revenues remained "unchanged" at 42%.
News broke last week that Goldman Sachs was reining in the expenses in a major cost-cutting push. The firm said total staff decreased "slightly" throughout the quarter.
The same quarter last year was a massive one for Goldman, in which it reported adjusted earnings per share of $6 (diluted earnings per share of $5.94) on revenue $10.62 billion.
Last quarter, Goldman earned an adjusted $4.68 per share on revenue of $7.27. Diluted earnings per share were $1.27, due mainly to a $5 billion mortgage-backed-securities-related settlement the firm paid.
The first quarter is typically the strongest for investment banks, but has been unusually weak on Wall Street this year. Choppy trading conditions in early 2016, fears over China's growth, and collapsed oil prices have created a "perfect storm" for banks. More on that here.
JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi, and Morgan Stanley have already reported first-quarter earnings, each beating or matching analyst expectations despite significant declines in profit.
Get the latest Goldman Sachs stock price here.
SEE ALSO: Goldman Sachs is cutting costs big time
NOW WATCH: No one seems to want to buy Lloyd Blankfein's stunning Hamptons home
More: Wall Street Goldman Sachs Earnings Q1