Investing.com – Shares in Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) saw volatility in pre-market trade Tuesday after reporting first quarter earnings that topped consensus across the board and lifting its dividend.
The financial services firm reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $6.95 in the first three months of the year.
Analysts’ forecast pointed to earnings of $5.58 a share.
Meanwhile, the firm’s revenue increased 25.0% from the same quarter a year earlier to $10.04 billion, beating the forecast for $8.74 billion.
In the press release, Goldman noted that the effective income tax rate for the first quarter was 17.2%, down from the full year rate of 61.5% for 2017.
The firm also reported that revenue from equities sales and trade was $2.31 billion, beating the consensus forecast of $1.85 billion.
FICC sales and trading revenue (from fixed income, currencies and commodities) was $2.07 billion in the first quarter, narrowly topping analyst estimates for $2.04 billion.
Furthermore,Goldman increased its quarterly dividend by 6.7% to $0.80 per share.
Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein referred to that the first quarter results as a “solid performance”.
“We are well positioned to serve our clients as the global economy continues to show strength and central banks unwind certain aspects of policy stimulus,” he said in the press release.
“We are also broadening our client base and further diversifying ourvbusinesses to drive more revenue and earnings growth for the firm,” Blankfein added.
Traders will now turn their attention to the firm’s conference call due to start at 9:30AM ET (13:30GMT).
Immediately following the report, shares surged nearly 2% in pre-market trade, only to quickly turn around and drop nearly 1%. At 7:53AM ET (11:53GMT), shares once again gained 0.66% to $259.97, compared to the previous closing price of $257.88. Shares had been trading up around 0.5% at $259.25 just prior to the publication.
