Goldman Sachs reported Q3 2024 results with a material year-over-year revenue increase and meaningful improvement in profitability metrics, driven by resilience across fee-based businesses and market activity. Revenue totaled USD 31.524 billion, up 10.5% YoY and 1.9% QoQ, while gross profit reached USD 12.302 billion and net income USD 2.99 billion (EPS diluted USD 8.40). Operating income showed a robust YoY rise of 44.7%, delivering an operating margin of roughly 12.65%, underscoring a normalization of profitability despite a still-choppy macro environment.
However, cash flow remained a challenge in the quarter. Cash from operations was negative USD 38.06 billion, largely driven by working capital dynamics and other working capital items totaling an outflow of USD 41.986 billion, contributing to a negative free cash flow of approximately USD 38.53 billion for the period. The balance sheet remains exceptionally large and asset-light in terms of risk, with cash and cash equivalents of USD 154.69 billion and total debt of USD 612.92 billion, yielding a net debt position of USD 458.23 billion. These cash flow dynamics reflect the sector’s cyclicality and balance sheet normalization efforts rather than a deterioration in underlying profitability.
From a valuation lens, the stock-side metrics show a price-to-earnings around 12.0x and a price-to-book around 1.19x, with a modest dividend yield of about 0.81%. The quarter’s results reinforce a two-pillar narrative: (1) improving earnings power from capital markets, advisory, and asset-management-related revenue streams; (2) ongoing emphasis on capital discipline and selective investment to balance growth with risk controls. Investors should monitor the pace of fee-related revenue (M&A activity, underwriting, trading volumes), asset-management inflows/outflows, and working-capital sensitivity to volatility in subsequent periods.