With Wall Street earnings reports on tap this week, Moody’s Ratings is expecting the big banks to report stronger equity trading and underwriting revenues for the second quarter of 2026.
The large U.S.-based global investment banks are set to start reporting second-quarter earnings on July 14 — including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co.
In a research note, Moody’s said that it expects positive results overall from the Wall Street giants, “led by stronger equity trading, equity underwriting and debt underwriting revenue.”
In the second quarter, the value of both initial public offerings (IPOs) and secondary offerings were up significantly compared with the same quarter in 2025, and U.S. debt issuance volumes “were also significantly higher than a year ago across all bond types,” it said.
While the SpaceX IPO led the increase in U.S. equity IPO proceeds, Moody’s said, even excluding that flotation, “IPO proceeds were more than double those of a year ago.”
Additionally, investment grade bond issuance surged in the second quarter, it noted — and convertible bond activity was strong too.
At the same time, Moody’s reported that the volume and value of completed M&A transactions were also higher in the second quarter, although the increase was more modest than in the securities underwriting business.
On the trading side, revenues from fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) trading “will likely be lower because of generally softer trading volumes and lower volatility,” Moody’s said. However, it expects equity trading revenues to be stronger, “supported by record volumes and elevated bid/ask spreads, despite lower volatility.”
Trading activity in both cash and equity derivatives reached record highs, it noted.
As a result, Moody’s expects trading in equities to offset weakness in FICC derivatives, credit ETFs, and bond trading volumes.