Wall Street Execs Optimistic on Deal Pipelines and M&A Momentum Amid Q3 Earnings

Wall Street's top bankers are optimistic about their deal pipelines and M&A momentum, with advisory, equity, and debt underwriting revenues jumping sharply across five major US banks. Growing backlogs could lift banker pay, and consultants predict that optimism will stretch into 2026. Bank CEOs, including Goldman Sachs' David Solomon and Citigroup's Jane Fraser, emphasized the robustness of their pipelines and the potential for a "golden age of investment banking."

Wall Street's top bankers are expressing optimism about their deal pipelines and M&A momentum, with advisory, equity, and debt underwriting revenues jumping sharply across five major US banks. This positive trend is expected to continue into 2026, according to consultants, who predict that growing backlogs could lift banker pay.

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Citigroup all reported significant improvements across advisory, equity, and debt underwriting. The banks' CEOs, including David Solomon of Goldman Sachs and Jane Fraser of Citigroup, emphasized the robustness of their pipelines and the potential for a "golden age of investment banking."

Goldman Sachs reported its third-highest quarterly net revenues, with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory revenues up 60% to $1.4 billion. Morgan Stanley's equity underwriting revenues surged 80%, while Citigroup's equity underwriting grew 35%. Bank of America's equity underwriting fees climbed 34% to $362 million.

Debt issuance also followed a similar trend, with Citi's corporate lending revenues up 39% and Bank of America's debt underwriting fees rising 42% to $1.1 billion. The volume of deals worth $5 billion or more surged 64% from last year, reaching 100 so far in 2025.

Executives across the banks pointed to a backlog of IPOs stretching into 2026 as companies prepare to return to public markets. However, the US government shutdown, now entering its third week, has halted much of the day-to-day functioning of regulatory agencies, including the SEC, which oversees the IPO process.

Consultants predict that the optimism will continue into 2026, with bankers expecting healthy paydays come year's end. The banks' clients are more comfortable about the long-term outlook, and optimistic that deals are going to get done in the fourth quarter.