Wall Street’s six largest banks report first-quarter earnings next week, with Goldman Sachs kicking off on 13 April and JPMorgan Chase following on 14 April. Investment banking fees are expected to drive the results.
Why it matters: the earnings will reveal how the Iran war, the ceasefire rally, and a surge in deal-making activity have reshaped bank revenue in a quarter defined by extreme market volatility.
Goldman Sachs
Goldman is expected to report revenue of $16.9 billion, a 12% increase from a year ago. Investment banking fees are forecast to surge more than 26% year on year to approximately $2.42 billion, driven by a wave of M&A activity that included SpaceX’s xAI merger.
Having exited its underperforming consumer banking ventures in 2025, Goldman enters this earnings season as a pure-play investment banking and markets business.
JPMorgan Chase
Consensus estimates project JPMorgan earnings of $5.38-$5.50 per share on revenue of approximately $48.5 billion. Net interest income is expected to reach $25.6 billion, supported by a resilient lending portfolio and slower-than-expected deposit cost increases.
The bank has signalled strong growth in markets revenue, which benefited from the volatility generated by the Iran conflict and the subsequent ceasefire.
The fee pivot
The broader theme across all six banks is a structural shift from interest-rate-driven revenue to fee-based income. With the Federal Reserve holding rates steady and net interest margins under pressure, deal-making fees, trading revenue, and wealth management have become the primary growth engines.
What happens next
Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley report later in the week. Netflix, BlackRock, and Johnson & Johnson also report, broadening the earnings picture beyond financials.