The first quarter was huge for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as a raft of megadeals pushed the worldwide value of deals some 50% higher, year over year.
Overall, it was one of the best quarters for deal-making in years
No company benefited from this surge in M&A activity more than Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). Goldman Sachs is one of the leaders in global M&A, and it makes a higher percentage of its revenue from investment banking than its major competitors, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). So when M&A is hot, Goldman Sachs’ revenue typically soars.
That was the case in the first quarter, as Goldman Sachs had blowout earnings. Revenue jumped 14% year over year and 28% from the fourth quarter to $17.2 billion. Net income surged to $5.6 billion, or $17.55 per share, up 24% year over year and 25% from Q4, crushing analystsʻ estimates.