Goldman Sachs is set to report first-quarter earnings — here’s what the Street expects

Goldman Sachs is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings before the opening bell Wednesday.

Here’s what Wall Street expects:

Earnings: $3.35 a share, 41% lower from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv.

Revenue: $7.92 billion, a 10% decrease from a year earlier.

Trading Revenue: Fixed Income $1.99 billion, equities $1.92 billion.

Investment Banking Revenue: $1.87 billion.

Can Goldman Sachs’ weakness become its strength?

For years, critics of the bank have bemoaned its lack of broad retail banking operations as rivals including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America outperformed Goldman, fueled by loans funded with cheap customer deposits.

Now, in the first quarter where the industry’s results have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, Goldman Sachs may be more insulated from the turmoil facing its bigger peers. Among the six biggest U.S. banks, Goldman derives the biggest share of its revenue from Wall Street activities including trading and mergers advice.  

On Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo both posted sharp drops in first-quarter profit as the banks set aside a combined $10 billion for a coming deluge of loan defaults. A lone bright spot for the banks has been surging trading and bond issuance operations, driven in part by the historic jump in market volatility last month.

Still, Goldman is exposed to declines in the value of private and public companies held as investments, which could sting the firm.

And analysts will be keen to hear if CEO David Solomon’s performance targets, given at the bank’s first-ever investor day in January, will still be achievable.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.