Goldman Sachs reported first quarter earnings Thursday that crushed analyst expectations — even as the bank’s profit dipped 42% year over year. The Wall Street giant reported a slump in advisory fees as IPOs and mergers slowed sharply from last year’s breakneck pace. That’s despite robust trading revenues that traders racked up as they found ways to profit amid geopolitical uncertainty. “It was a turbulent quarter dominated by the devastating invasion of Ukraine,” Chief Executive David Solomon said in a statement. “The rapidly evolving market environment had a significant effect on client activity as risk intermediation came to the fore and equity issuance came to a near standstill.” Goldman earned $12.93 billion in revenue and $10.76 earnings per share — far exceeding analyst predictions it would bring in $11.86 billion in revenue and $8.90 earnings per share, according to data from FactSet. The bank’s total profit was $3.94 billion. Shares were up nearly 2% following earnings. Goldman, which typically generates a third of its revenue from its investment bank through lucrative fees from advising on deals, brought in $2.41 billion in fees — 36% lower than the first quarter from the year before. But the disappointing investment banking performance was offset by the bank’s trading revenue which was up 4% from the year before, hauling in $7.87 billion. Fixed income, currency and commodities trading revenue alone brought in $4.72 — up 21% from a year ago. JPMorgan, the nation’s largest company reported Wednesday it profit also fell 42% year over year.
