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​📈 Follow our live markets data and coverage. It was an epic quarter for investment banks. Goldman Sachs said this week that its stock-trading revenue hit a record $7.4 billion, up 72% from a year earlier.

Concerned about an AI bubble? Sign up for The Daily Upside for smart and actionable market news, built for investors. It’s getting better all the time. Wall Street is celebrating a second quarter that delivered stellar earnings for banks, wirehouses and asset managers alike. With major indexes up roughly 10% so far this year, a rising tide is lifting fee revenue even as high-net-worth clients generating more wealth are increasingly looking for sophisticated advice. Things are going so well, in fact, that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon used his firm’s earnings call this week to make a colorful boast about his wealth unit’s leadership. “It’s a great team of people, which I am fully confident if I was hit by a truck, which is not my preference, we would be fine,” he said. Sign up for The Daily Upside at no cost for premium analysis on all your favorite stocks. READ ALSO: RIAs Excel in Client Retention but Need a Strategy for Boosting Referral Business and Prenups Are on the Rise: Here’s How to Talk About Them With Clients Dimon’s confidence is backed by hard data, a trend mirrored across the wealth management landscape. At JPMorgan alone, profit in the asset and wealth management unit surged 33% year over year to about $2 billion, pushing client assets up 19% to $7.7 trillion. Similarly, Citigroup’s wealth division marked its ninth consecutive quarter of revenue growth, with profits leaping 51% year over year to top $580 million. Almost two-thirds of the unit’s new asset growth came from deepening relationships with existing clients. That massive asset influx was a recurring theme among the wirehouses (UBS reports later this month): Morgan Stanley’s wealth and investment management businesses crossed a historic milestone, reaching $10 trillion in total client assets after pulling in a record $148 billion in net new assets this quarter, according to the firm’s earnings report on Wednesday. While just over half of those inflows stemmed from client IPOs in the firm’s workplace channel, meaning they weren’t entirely driven by traditional advised clients, the sheer scale remains impressive. Meanwhile, Bank of America’s global wealth unit, which includes both BofA Private Bank and Merrill Lynch, saw profits skyrocket a whopping 42% to $1.4 billion, fueled by $4.4 billion in management fees. Wells Fargo rode the same wave, reporting a 28% jump in wealth division profi...

The banking giant just showed off its profit engine, but now it has to prove this new power is permanent. Forget the headline beat. Yes, Bank of America (BAC)’s second-quarter numbers were solid, with earnings per share jumping 34% to $1.21 and the bank generating a stellar 17% return on tangible common equity. The market gave a polite nod, sending the stock up a respectable 1.9% on a flat day for the broader market. But the real news wasn’t in the results just posted; it was in the new bar management set for the rest of the year. This quarter was a powerful demonstration of the bank’s earnings machine, forcing a major upgrade to its own profitability targets. For an investor, this reframes the entire story. With its performance proven, the question for Bank of America shifts to whether this new, higher altitude of profitability is the new normal or just a temporary peak. This wasn't a one-off win in a single division. The performance was impressively broad. As management noted, “Every business segment generated operating leverage.” The capital markets businesses were on fire, with investment banking fees soaring 50% year-over-year to more than $2.1 billion. The sales and trading division was not far behind, pulling in $7.2 billion in revenue, a 33% increase from last year. From the main street Consumer Banking division to the towers of Wall Street, the entire franchise was humming. Here’s the number that really matters. At the start of the year, the company was guiding for full-year operating leverage of “more than 200 basis points.” After a blistering first half where that figure “exceeded 450 basis points,” management just lifted its full-year target to a range of “300-400 basis points.” That’s a large upgrade. It signals that the company’s ability to grow revenue faster than costs has become a core feature of the business model, rather than a temporary trend. This is the heart of the bull case: the scale and efficiency you’ve been paying for are finally delivering in a big way. Of course, there’s a catch. Analysts on the earnings call repeatedly poked at one key issue: the second half of the year faces much more difficult comparisons. Management was candid about it. As one executive explained, “most all of the NII build last year was in the second half of the year. We're just up against tougher comps, that's all.” This is the risk you have to weigh. The...

BlackRock BLK) and Goldman Sachs GS) delivered record Q2 results this week, maintaining the strong momentum that has fueled financial stocks. Robust capital markets activity and healthy client inflows helped both companies comfortably exceed expectations and post quarterly records for revenue and adjusted EPS, respectively. BlackRock continues to dominate the global asset management market with record assets under management (AUM), while Goldman Sachs benefited from a resurgence in investment banking and trading activity. For investors deciding between the two financial leaders, the question becomes whether the stability of BlackRock or the cyclical growth potential of Goldman Sachs offers the better opportunity going forward. BlackRock produced another outstanding quarter, highlighted by its AUM surpassing $15 trillion for the first time in company history after attracting $192 billion of net client inflows during Q2. Revenue climbed more than 30% year over year to $7.08 billion and comfortably exceeded Q2 estimates of $6.82 billion. On the bottom line, BlackRock posted Q2 adjusted net income of $2.29 billion or $13.91 per share, which increased 15% from a year ago and topped EPS expectations of $12.67 by nearly 10%. Notably, the firm's operating margin expanded to roughly 46%, its highest level in nearly five years. Perhaps more importantly, management remained highly optimistic about its long-term outlook, highlighting continued expansion across ETFs, private markets, and technology services. BlackRock also increased its quarterly share repurchases to $550 million and raised its full-year share repurchase target to roughly $2 billion. Although BlackRock doesn’t offer specific financial guidance, the company reaffirmed expectations for continued double-digit earnings growth. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Pivoting to Goldman Sachs, Q2 revenue surged 39% YoY to $20.33 billion and blasted estimates of $16.49 billion by 23%. More impressive, Goldman reported Q2 adjusted net income of $6.63 billion, translating to EPS of $20.98, which nearly doubled from a year ago and crushed expectations of $14.47 per share by 45%. Furthermore, Goldman highlighted that its annualized return on equity (ROE) reached an impressive 23.5%. The biggest driver was Global Banking & Markets, where revenue soared 53% thanks to exceptionally strong investment banking activity,...

Jefferies rates all four money center banks Buy after Q2 beats on EPS, driven by strong NII growth, fee income, and capital markets. Goldman Sachs (GS) hit record H1 2026 markets results, while Bank of America (BAC) raised its FY26 operating leverage guidance to 300-400 bp. This lithium producer surpassed a $1B private valuation, joining some of America's most powerful startups. Now you can invest in EnergyX alongside global giants like General Motors, but only through July 16. (sponsor) As always, the quarterly earnings were kicked off by the major large-cap money center banks, and as expected they all delivered solid earnings reports. The team at Jefferies remains very positive on the four top companies that beat earnings expectations and, most importantly, provided reassuring forward guidance. Net interest income, or NII, across all banks was impressive, and with the debate over where interest rates will be as we move through the rest of 2026 remaining a wild card for all the financial giants, the second half of the year could prove interesting. The Jefferies team had this to say when discussing the results: We’re out with our thoughts following large-cap bank earnings. We highlight that results were largely positive, with all four banks beating Earnings Per Share and Pre-Provision Net Revenue expectations. Loan growth came in modestly above expectations, while deposit trends were generally stable. NII growth remained healthy, supported by strong balance sheet momentum, deposit growth, and fixed-rate asset repricing. Fee income remained constructive, benefiting from strength in payments, treasury services, securities services, wealth management, and transaction banking. Meanwhile, capital markets were a standout performer, driven by robust trading activity, improving investment banking fees, and healthy client engagement. Here are the four dividend-paying financial giants that Jefferies rates as Buy. July 16 is the Final Day to Tap Into the Lithium Boom (sponsor)General Motors, POSCO, and 50,000+ everyday investors have already backed lithium producer EnergyX. Here's why you should do the same before their July 16 investment deadline: lithium prices are up 75% this year, with demand projected to grow a staggering 5X by 2040. With tech that can recover up to 3X more lithium than traditional methods, EnergyX is preparing to unlock up to 15M+ tons. Become a...

Morgan Stanley's (MS) second-quarter revenue surpassed Wall Street's projections, with robust invest

Chip-gear giant ASML rose with the Nasdaq and AI stocks at key levels. Oil prices topped $80 a barrel on new U.S. attacks vs. Iran.

Wall Street cleared this earnings season’s first major hurdle with room to spare, as the nation’s biggest banks pummeled profit forecasts. “Bank earnings are often described as a scoreboard for the financial sector,” said Ruben Dalfovo, investment strategist at Saxo Bank. “They are more useful as an economic medical examination, and the early numbers suggest the patient remains active, and dealmaking appears healthier.”

(Updates to specify revenue beat in the headline.) Morgan Stanley's (MS) second-quarter revenue s

Goldman Sachs, investment banker to SpaceX and Alphabet, rode the AI investment boom to a huge Q2 earnings beat. The Stock Of The Day soared.

Jamie Dimon said conditions were nearly “as good as it gets” after JPMorgan reported a big jump in profit.

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. President Donald Trump rolled back his 20% toll on Strait of Hormuz shipping, though an off-and-on ceasefire in the Middle East continues to roil energy markets and interest rates. But consumer inflation was a lot cooler than expected in June, big banks beat Wall Street forecasts and even conflicting headlines suggest interest in the AI trade remains high. The West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures contract traded above $80 per barrel for the first time since June 17 and was higher by 2.0% at $79.68 on Tuesday. The 2-year Treasury yield ticked down to 4.189% after reaching a new 52-week high and closing at 4.263% on Monday. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said before the opening bell that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed its biggest month-over-month decline since 2020 last month. The June CPI report attributed the move to the steepest slide for gasoline prices since 2022. Bloomberg, relying on "people familiar with the matter," said South Korea-based Samsung Electronics plans to seek some of the same fortune SK Hynix (SKHY, -9.3%) found last Friday when it completed one of the biggest IPOs in U.S. history. But Reuters quoted a company spokesperson: "Samsung Electronics is not reviewing ​the possibility of issuing American Depositary ​Receipts." Samsung was up 3.4% on its local exchange, and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index was up 0.7% on Tuesday. Looking for more timely stock market news to help gauge the health of your portfolio? Sign up for Closing Bell, our free newsletter that's delivered straight to your inbox at the close of each trading day. Meanwhile, facing an array of challenges to his authority, new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is testifying to Congress for the first time since taking his oath of office in May. Warsh appeared before the House Financial Services Committee today and will testify to the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow about inflation and interest rates. As Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates notes, the BLS will release the Producer Price Index (PPI) before the opening bell on Wednesday. "Economists are expecting the overall PPI to decline 0.2% in June," Navellier writes, "so it is widely expected that inflation will also be cooling on the wholesale level." At the closing bell on Tuesday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Comp...