Goldman Sachs I set off Profits Season on Monday (April 13) with conviction: Private credit is still worth the risk, even as the market makes that bet riskier.
On a call with analysts, C.E.O David Solomon He said the company continues to “feel good about the long-term opportunity for private credit and our ability to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns to clients.” But he didn’t pretend that the conditions were perfect. “Volatility has increased significantly amid concerns about AI-induced disruption in sectors such as software, increased uncertainty in parts of private credit, and conflict in the Middle East,” he said.
This tension between opportunity and risk formed the strong financial backdrop to the first quarter. Goldman I mentioned Net revenues were $17.2 billion, up 14% year over year.
Digital participation and platform monetization
Beyond capital markets activity, the quarter highlighted the ongoing shift towards digital engagement. Solomon said the company has seen “increased engagement with our digital channels, including Marquee, with average monthly users up more than 30% year over year,” along with increases in client activity through its research portal.
These gains are linked to infrastructure investment. CFO Dennis Coleman He pointed to accelerated spending on cloud migration and data engineering, calling them essential to “optimize the deployment of AI solutions across the company,” with the goal of improving productivity and efficiency over time.
Deposit strategy and balance sheet
Deposit growth also emerged as a key theme closely linked to financing and lending priorities. The company saw “significant” deposit-raising activity during the quarter, mostly through the Marcus platform, Solomon said, describing deposits as “a strategic source of funding for us as we continue to grow.” Total deposits in the fourth quarter were $561 billion, up from $501 billion in the same period last year, company materials indicated.
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Coleman linked this growth directly to the publication of the balance sheet. The company has expanded lending across equity financing, corporate loans and private wealth, with record lending balances in certain sectors.
Asked later in the call about private credit, Solomon said, “Private credit in the broadest definition you can come up with is $3.5 trillion in assets. The thing that gets a lot of focus is direct lending, and direct lending is about $1.6 trillion to $1.7 trillion in assets.” The retail channel of the direct lending business is “about 20% or about $230 billion of net asset value. There are clearly increasing redemptions in some peer-managed funds. These peer-managed funds have been concentrated in retail outflows rather than institutional outflows,” he told analysts.
As for Goldman, the CEO said spreads have become more favorable to lenders, adding that “when you look at our Q1 2026 and GS Credit BDC signups, 40% of them were from institutions, many of which are first-time investors on our platforms, including insurance companies, banks and pension funds. And when you look at our broad platform, more than 80% are institutional partners,” a mix he described as “very broad and very diverse.”
Credit Card Transfer and Platform Solutions
Goldman’s credit card business is still in transition. Platform Solutions revenues declined year-over-year by 33% to $411 million, reflecting the Apple Card portfolio’s move to “held-for-sale” status, with management noting that revenues in this segment are expected to remain lower during the year. Supplemental materials released alongside the earnings indicated that credit card loans in the first quarter were $19 billion, down from $20 billion in Q4 2025 and $21 billion in Q1 2025.
Repositioning refers to a narrower focus within consumer-facing companies, with capital redirected toward corporate and financing activities, which has been widely discussed over the past several chapters.
Provisions for credit losses increased to $315 million, reflecting growth and declines in wholesale lending.
Looking ahead, management maintained a constructive tone, supported by expectations for continued customer activity and a regulatory backdrop that Solomon said appeared to be moving towards a more “balanced” framework. Shares fell 2% in intraday trading on Monday.
