Goldman and Morgan Stanley results show the IPO and M&A machine has restarted

Goldman Sachs reported $3.40 billion of second-quarter investment-banking fees, up 55% year over year, including $985 million from equity underwriting and $1.38 billion from advisory. Its investment-banking backlog increased from both the first quarter and year-end. Morgan Stanley separately reported a 58% increase in investment-banking revenue to $2.44 billion, driven by IPO underwriting and M&A advisory. Reuters reported more than $3 trillion of announced global M&A volume in 2026 through mid-July, up over 40% year over year.