Goldman Sachs tops M&A rankings as Wall Street dealmaking rebounds

Goldman Sachs is entering the second quarter with something bankers have not had consistently in years: a real deal pipeline. The problem is that the same geopolitical tension lifting uncertainty across boardrooms could also slow launches, financing windows and closings, turning a strong fee environment into a stop-start year for the bankers doing the work.

The first quarter showed why the optimism is back. Investment banking fees rose an average of 27% across six major U.S. banks, industrywide investment banking revenue climbed 14% to $28.2 billion, and announced deal value reached $1.38 trillion, the second-highest first-quarter total on record. JPMorgan ranked first in the overall league table, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley close behind, but Goldman took the top spot in M&A, the metric that still carries outsized weight inside the firm because it shapes prestige, client wins and internal morale.

For Goldman employees, that ranking matters beyond the headlines. Analysts and associates get more live work when the market turns from pitch-heavy to execution-heavy, and the current backdrop has already created more active coverage, more late-night materials and more chances to land on headline transactions. At the same time, war-related uncertainty in the Middle East gives clients a reason to wait, reprice or pull timing forward and back, which means more pressure on junior bankers to keep slides, models and diligence moving even when a deal seems one day away from launch and the next day frozen.

Goldman’s own first-quarter results showed how much the franchise is benefiting from the rebound. Net revenues were $17.23 billion, net earnings were $5.63 billion, diluted earnings per share reached $17.55 and annualized return on equity was 19.8%. Global Banking & Markets generated $12.74 billion in revenue, up 19% from a year earlier, and investment banking fees rose 48% to $2.84 billion, driven primarily by a jump in completed M&A. Goldman said its backlog of banking fees slipped slightly from the end of 2025, a sign that the pipeline is healthy but not immune to timing shifts.

David Solomon told analysts the environment for investment banking activity remains “incredibly robust,” particularly in M&A. That strength sits alongside a more uneven trading picture, with equities revenue hitting a record $5.33 billion while fixed income, currencies and commodities revenue fell 10% to $4.01 billion. For bankers, the message is clear: the rebound is real, but in a market shaped by geopolitics, the calendar may matter almost as much as the mandate.