The New York-based firm reported $521 million of equity underwriting revenue in the final three months of 2025, beating Morgan Stanley’s $494 million

Goldman Sachs tops Wall Street for fourth quarter ECM revenue

Goldman Sachs Regains Top Spot on Equity Capital Markets Revenue

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reclaimed its position as the leading bank in Wall Street's equity capital markets revenue, according to recent figures. The New York-based firm generated $521 million in equity underwriting revenue during the final quarter of 2025, surpassing Morgan Stanley's $494 million and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s $416 million over the same period.

Record-Breaking IPO Activity Expected in 2026

Activity in the equity capital markets has increased for the fourth consecutive year, with the volume of IPOs, share sales, and convertible bonds rising to $841.8 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While this figure is still less than the record amount raised in 2021, Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer David Solomon expects the market to continue growing in 2026.

Goldman Sachs' Role in Notable IPOs

Goldman Sachs played a leading role in Medline Inc.'s $7.2 billion listing, the year's largest IPO and the largest since Porsche AG's debut in 2022.
The bank shared $156.5 million in fees from the offering, with more than a third going to Goldman and Morgan Stanley for leading the offering.

Fierce Competition Among Banks

Even with some big IPOs in the US, Europe, and India, and a hectic run of convertible bond sales, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were only able to eke out single-digit percentage point revenue gains compared to the fourth quarter of 2024.

2025 Year-End Performance

Morgan Stanley was the top performer in 2025, lifting equity capital markets revenue by 23% to $1.97 billion.
Goldman Sachs' equity capital markets revenue for 2025 was $2.14 billion, a 12% increase from the previous year.

Expectations for 2026

Expectations are high that 2026 will represent a breakout year as some of the biggest private companies, led by SpaceX, consider going public as early as this year.

"We've got a lot of big, big companies in the pipe that I think just for a variety of reasons are reaching a moment in time where they're saying, 'you know what, it's time to go,'" said Goldman's Solomon.

Additionally, Goldman Sachs' Solomon expects private equity firms to take more of their portfolio companies public in 2026.