All articles tagged with #investment banking
Global merger and acquisition fees dropped 18% in the third quarter to $10.3 billion, marking the lowest level since mid-2025. The decline was driven by a sharp drop in megadeals, with only 10 deals over $10 billion announced, down from 26 in the previous quarter. Despite the slowdown, 2026 remains on track for record annual fees, with technology and AI-driven deals dominating activity.
Piper Sandler shares dropped 8.6% after reports surfaced that the firm is in preliminary discussions to acquire advisory firm Perella Weinberg. While the target stock typically rises on takeover hopes, acquirer shares often fall due to concerns over financing costs, dilution, and integration risks. The deal remains unconfirmed, and Piper Sandler has already declined 25.7% year-to-date amid broader pressure from higher interest rates on private equity activity.
Bank of America expects Q3 investment banking fees to fall by more than 10% year-over-year with trading revenue roughly flat, a softer follow-up to Q2’s gains. Moynihan pointed to a market down about 10% in IB activity and a solid middle-market deal pipeline, suggesting AI-driven advisory/trading could be cooling and sending shares lower after his remarks.
OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT for Financial Services, a tailored enterprise version developed with design partners Morgan Stanley and Evercore, powered by GPT-6 Astra to research companies, analyze financial data, and generate pitchbooks. It includes native data access from LSEG, Daloopa, and PitchBook, plus citations and admin controls, targeting investment banking and equity research. The rollout underscores a push into enterprise AI and could boost productivity while raising questions about the future need for junior bankers and how training would adapt.
Anthropic is nearing a $2 trillion IPO, with Morgan Stanley favored for the lead left advisory and Goldman Sachs expected to act as stabilisation agent as other banks like JPMorgan, Citigroup and Barclays vie for prominent roles. The filing could come as soon as next week, with a roadshow likely in late September and a New York listing potentially in late September or early October. Investors expect a valuation around $2 trillion, well above Anthropic’s current valuation of just over $900 billion, which would make it one of the largest IPOs ever. The company’s July revenue ran at about a $65 billion annualized pace, below some bullish forecasts of over $80 billion, and OpenAI remains a key rival in the AI race.
Anthropic is close to filing for a roughly $2 trillion IPO, with Morgan Stanley likely to be lead left and Goldman Sachs as stabilisation agent (though a final decision isn’t set). The deal could see roadshows in late September and a New York listing by late September or early October; if the $2tn target holds, early investors could realize large gains, despite July revenue missing forecasts and competition from OpenAI.
Barclays is reshuffling the leadership of its investment bank for the second time in under three years, naming Mike Joo from Bank of America as co-chief executive of investment banking and promoting Adeel Khan to co-CEO of global markets; Joo will lead from New York and join Barclays’ executive committee, ending the four-co-head structure introduced in 2024. The bank, currently sixth globally for investment banking fees with about $2.7 billion this year, is pushing to close the gap with top Wall Street rivals by focusing on fee-based advisory work and trimming its debt-capital markets franchise. The reshuffle casts doubt on the futures of other co-heads Taylor Wright and Cathal Deasy, who will remain until Joo’s February start, while Stephen Dainton retires. Barclays has also hired Alex Ham to bolster M&A and IPO activity.
Goldman Sachs is leaning into the AI infrastructure boom by funding AI-related projects and capacity, signaling a new revenue driver as demand for compute and data-center capabilities grows.
CNBC’s Jim Cramer says earnings season reinforced five durable investing themes with stock ideas: a resilient consumer ( Capital One, American Express, Ralph Lauren, Williams-Sonoma ); AI infrastructure via semiconductor equipment ( Lam Research, KLA, Applied Materials ); cybersecurity ( CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks ); a pickup in M&A boosting banks and advisers ( Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley ); and healthcare innovation ( Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson ). He notes these themes can give conviction to buy on pullbacks, though none is guaranteed to outperform; his Charitable Trust holds several of the mentioned stocks.
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase posted record quarterly revenue, up 39% to $20.3 billion and 27% to $58 billion respectively, as AI-enabled activity across equities trading, IPOs, debt offerings, and M&A drives fees and financing demand worldwide, with executives calling it an AI capex super cycle and noting strong spillover into Asia.
Analysts expect JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to report about $39 billion in second‑quarter trading revenue as market volatility drives client activity; Goldman’s equities unit could top $5 billion, helping sustain a trading bonanza after a strong first half, with broader support from robust investment banking activity and ongoing rate expectations influencing banks’ margins and loan considerations.
Investors expect JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs to post strong Q2 results as investment banking fees from deals like SpaceX IPO and robust trading lift revenue; analysts foresee substantial gains in investment banking and trading amid a favorable backdrop of rising markets, healthy consumer lending, and soft dollars from IPO allocations, though questions remain about sustainability and deposit-margin pressure.
Citi plans to raise its investment-banking managing-director headcount by about 15% to widen coverage and boost productivity, part of a push to hire top talent from more than 20 rivals and sustain growth through a 'serial winning mindset' and AI-enabled tools; the bank has already added roughly 60 MD hires since last year, while expanding AI initiatives in wealth management and continuing its transformation program.
LIV Golf announced it has retained Ducera Partners as its investment banking advisor to secure long-term investment partners and shift toward a diversified, multi-partner funding model. Ducera’s team, led by Michael Kramer, will guide the league through a rigorous process to attract strategic backers as sponsorships and partnerships rise 40% year-over-year, ticket sales grow 130%, and broadcasts reach nearly a billion households in 200 countries. The move follows the league’s expanded governance with independent directors Gene Davis and Jon Zinman, signaling a push to evolve LIV Golf’s financial foundation for its next growth phase.
LIV Golf has tapped Ducera Partners as its investment banker to help secure long-term investors and diversify funding as the Saudi Public Investment Fund plans to exit after the 2026 season, a move that follows the PIF’s more than $6 billion backing to date; LIV has also added restructuring advisers and formed an independent board to navigate a multi-partner investment model ahead of the Virginia event.