Goldman’s equities traders did some trading last quarter.

Notwithstanding a slight miss to consensus when the firm last reported results in October, the equities business boomed for Goldman last year. During Q1 and Q2, the equities desk delivered consecutive quarters of blockbuster revenue, and they did it again in Q4.

Total equities trading revenue was $4.31 billion for the quarter, Goldman said Thursday. That was a mile ahead of the $3.65 billion consensus and up 25% YoY. The full-year haul was $16.54 billion, a record, to Morgan Stanley’s $15.63 billion, also a record.

The FICC beat for Goldman was less impressive. Revenue there rose 12% YoY to $3.11 billion against $2.95 billion seen. At Morgan, FICC posted a 9% YoY decline in Q4 to $1.76 billion, a miss to the $1.92 billion consensus.

Do note: That $4.31 billion figure for equities trading revenue at Goldman wasn’t just the highest ever for the firm, it was the best showing for any firm, ever, which is to say Goldman beat its own Q2 record in that regard.

Goldman’s results also suggested the firm continues to benefit from the long-time-coming IB revival. Investment banking revenue was $2.58 billion in Q4, up 25% YoY and a beat. You can thank M&A: Advisory fees jumped 41% versus Q4 of 2024 to $1.36 billion. That line at Morgan was $1.13 billion, up 45%.

The figure above gives you some context. Q4 was the second-best quarter for IB at Goldman in years behind only Q3, when debt underwriting was stronger. Goldman said its IB backlog was higher versus end-Q3.

Overall IB fees at Morgan were $2.41 billion in Q4, up 47% YoY, helped along by debt underwriting revenue which nearly doubled to $785 million, a $150 million beat.

That’s Ted Pick trying to build out the debt business, an endeavor which saw Morgan lead Meta’s data center mega-sale.

“[T]he hyper-scalers are looking for access to capital markets and we’re there to provide those structured solutions,” Sharon Yeshaya told Bloomberg.

I, um, wish Pick and Yeshaya the best on that, but I’m not sure I’d be boasting so loudly about my role in facilitating the AI data center buildout until there’s more clarity on whether that buildout’s actually a good idea.

Anyway, panning out, both Goldman and Morgan had great years in 2025 with revenue of $58.28 billion and $70.60 billion, respectively. If you strip out the cost of the Apple Card “transition,” Goldman’s revenue was $60.54 billion, a record.

Oh, and Goldman raised its dividend to $4.50 and set more ambitious goals for the firm’s wealth business. The key net new assets line at Morgan’s wealth business showed a $122.30 billion gain for Q4, a country mile ahead of estimates and up more than 115% from the prior year.