Wall Street banks posted strong second-quarter earnings, boosted by robust merger-and-acquisition advisory fees and a surge in trading revenue, though lenders cautioned about risks to the economy and financial markets.
The SpaceX initial public offering has helped. Wall Street banks, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, played big roles in the nearly $86 billion SpaceX IPO. Banks on the SpaceX IPO raked in around $500 million in fees.
Investment banking has been a strong area of revenue growth, with mega equity offerings and multibillion-dollar transactions signaling the most bullish dealmaking environment in years. Trading continues to be strong with higher-than-usual volatility due to geopolitical conflict and uncertainty surrounding AI disruption.
"We've had really terrific global markets performance and investment banking performances," said Bank of America (BofA) Chief Financial Officer Alastair Borthwick on the bank's media call. "Business continues to feel good."
Bank of America beat estimates for second-quarter profit, benefiting from record trading activity and a surge in dealmaking, one of five banks reporting on Tuesday.
