Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) shares plunged more than 6% on Tuesday after the company reported worse-than-expected Q4 results. EPS came in at $3.32, missing the Street estimate of $5.56, primarily driven by higher-than-expected expenses and a larger-than-expected provision for credit losses. Revenue was $10.59 billion, worse than the Street estimate of $10.79 billion.
According to the analysts at RBC Capital, Goldman Sachs is one of the preeminent global investment banks but even with its leading position, market conditions negatively impacted nearly all of its businesses. Furthermore, the restructuring of its lines of businesses unveiled the unprofitability of its consumer banking businesses.
The analysts think the company’s main operations, such as investment banking, trading, wealth and asset management, are still excellent, but the large losses in its consumer businesses indicate to investors that the company still needs to make improvements in order to become profitable. That being said the company continues to focus on growing its book value per share to deliver returns for its shareholders.