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Big banks post record first-half capital markets revenue on AI boom
The five largest Wall Street banks reported $114 billion in capital markets revenue for the first six months of 2026, up 31.5% year over year.
Yahoo Finance reports that JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley collectively generated $114 billion of capital markets revenue in the first six months of 2026, up 31.5% from a year earlier. The outlet says stock trading drove more than half of the increase, alongside gains in dealmaking and financing tied to the AI boom.
Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo told Yahoo Finance that AI is the “No. 1 earnings driver” for big banks this year, framing technology and related infrastructure spending as a wave that lifts Wall Street. Yahoo Finance adds that Mayo said he does not expect a wipeout over the next year, even as he cautioned that big waves can reverse.
Executives cited in the report linked the recent profit surge to a market that has been “risk-on,” which has supported trading activity and higher investor balances. JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum said the bank is taking advantage of the environment, while CEO Jamie Dimon characterized the current conditions as close to “as good as it gets,” with sharp price moves, heavy stock rotation, and stronger investor balances boosting equities trading revenues.
Yahoo Finance also highlights that AI-linked wealth creation is feeding banks’ wealth management businesses. It says Morgan Stanley reported that “over half” of its wealth business’s net new assets came from employees of companies that completed IPOs in the quarter, and that Goldman Sachs was the largest contributor to the record first half with a $7.1 billion rise in capital markets revenue after advising on SpaceX’s IPO and Alphabet’s equity raise.