The Goldman Sachs Surprise
Monday, April 13, 2009SUSIE GHARIB: A big earnings surprise from Goldman Sachs late today. The giant investment firm reported a quarterly profit more than double analyst estimates. The news was so good, Goldman decided not to wait until the scheduled release tomorrow morning. Goldman earned $3.39 a share in the first quarter, well ahead of the $1.64 that analysts were expecting. It was also a big turnaround from the firm's fourth quarter loss of nearly $5 a share. Revenues surged 13 percent to about $9.5 billion. Now the company also plans to sell new shares to raise $5 billion so it can repay the bailout money it received from the Federal government. Goldman's early earnings release comes on the heels of a similar positive earnings surprise from Wells Fargo last Thursday.
