GOLDEN Q1 FOR SACHS

Trounces estimates

Goldman Sachs recorded a 28% surge in quarterly profits — topping Wall Street’s expectations thanks to surprising strength in the bank’s trading and investmentbanking operations.

The Wall Street giant said Monday its first-quarter earnings jumped to $4.13 billion. Revenue for the three months ended March 31 rose 16% to $14.21 billion, blowing past analysts’ estimates by more than $1 billion.

Goldman’s return on equity, a closely watched metric of profitability for Wall

Street banks, surged to 14.8% — nearly double the mere 7.5% returns it posted in 2023.

The unexpected jump was attributed to Goldman’s back-to-basics approach on dealmaking as well as its traders, according to Bloomberg.

“Our first-quarter results reflect the strength of our world-class and interconnected franchises and the earnings power of Goldman Sachs,” CEO David Solomon said. “We continue to execute on our strategy, focusing on our core strengths to serve our clients and deliver for our shareholders.”

Goldman managed to skirt the slowdown that its rival JPMorgan Chase experienced, which chief Jamie Dimon blamed on an “unsettling” global landscape.

A source close to the bank told The Post that Solomon (inset) on Monday morning was “receiving an overwhelming number of text messages from CEOs and clients congratulating him on the blowout quarter.”

“His response was humble and he simply wrote back, ‘One quarter at a time,’ ” the source said.

Goldman’s equity-trading revenue of $3.31 billion topped expectations despite the bank also incurring a $78 million charge for a special assessment from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. stemming from last year’s regional-bank failures. Goldman has made an effort to win back investors with a more predictable approach in its money-management unit, Bloomberg reported.

The strategy comes after Solomon faced scrutiny for his leadership — including a series of missteps in recent years such as the investment bank’s ill-fated foray into consumer lending as well as its failed creditcard partnership with Apple.

Since the ex-DJ hung up his headphones last year, Goldman underwent what Solomon called “a year of execution” in 2023 — when the bank also executed one of its biggest rounds of layoffs ever.

After axing 3,200 staffers in what was internally dubbed “David’s Demolition Day,” Goldman culled an additional 250 workers by May.

But now, as activity in capital markets ramps up again, analysts are anticipating that Goldman is better positioned to benefit from a rebound — though a complete bounce back isn’t guaranteed, per Bloomberg.

Goldman shares rose 2.9% to $400.88.