9
Goldman Sachs Group
Between its trading prowess and dealmaking savvy, Goldman Sachs sets the bar for Wall Street. Last year its trading and investing revenues rose 52%, to $25.6 billion, while banking chipped in $5.6 billion, up 53%. Little wonder that CEO Lloyd Blankfein, a master trader, took the helm when Henry Paulson left to become U.S. Treasury Secretary. Even as the firm paid rich bonuses, earnings leapt 70%. But with the Street and markets like China suffering, Goldman will be hard-pressed. Its response: diversify geographically and by product mix while investing alongside clients. Yet analysts are skeptical. Goldman’s stock has slipped to 200, from a high this year of 223.
| Overall Grade | A |
|
| Market Data | GS | |
| Market Value (2/28/2007) |
$83.3 Billion |
|
| Profitability* | 34.7% | A- |
| Sales Growth Rate** | 43.4% | A |
| 12-Month Sales | $69.4 Billion |
|
| 12-Month Net Income | $9.5 Billion |
|
| Total Return | Past 12 Months43.9% | Past 36 Months95.7% |
| Economic Sector | Financials | |
| Industry | Investment Banking & Brokerage | |
The overall sector letter grade reflects how the weighted average of the return on income, or return on equity, and sales growth grades compare with others in the same sector. For the overall grade as well as the ROE/ROI and sales growth grades, an "A" places a company in the top 7% of its sector and an "A-" in the top 14% of the sector. The actual ranking was done using the underlying numerical measures. Grades are for information only.
* For nonfinancial companies, three-year average pretax operating profit before interest and special items as a percentage of average invested capital. For financial companies, pretax profits as a percentage of average shareholder's equity.
*Three-year average annual sales growth based on the most recently reported 36 months, calculated using the least-squares method.
