Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley Earn $52B in AI Stock Trading

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley have generated a combined $52 billion in stock trading revenue in 2023, nearly 80% of the $67 billion total equities revenue made by the five biggest investment banks through September 30. This figure exceeds the total $60 billion generated in all of 2025, which was a record year. The surge is driven by the boom in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, relaxed capital requirements, and increased lending to hedge funds.

Prime brokerage services, including margin loans and securities lending, have been especially important in fueling this growth. Goldman Sachs reported its equities financing activities rose 96% in the third quarter to a record $3.37 billion. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley acknowledged similar increases. JPMorgan CFO Jeremy Barnum noted the "insatiable demand for capital" driven by AI-related market themes. The shift has transformed equity desks at these banks from transactional operations into more stable, high-margin lending businesses.

The dominance of these three banks highlights a growing performance gap with peers like Bank of America and Citigroup. The intense competition among the Big Three banks centers on serving large hedge funds and providing capital to support bets on AI hardware, hyperscalers, and chip suppliers. For investors, this trend means the largest Wall Street banks are benefiting significantly from the AI stock market boom via increased trading revenues and financing activities, which may bolster their earnings potential.