Forget all the recession chatter. Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO David Solomon feels the economic backdrop for 2026 looks strong.
In a recent CNBC interview, the veteran banker feels the macro setup is “quite good,” pointing to robust fiscal support, incredible AI-driven capital investment, and a more conducive business environment.
Moreover, Solomon said strategic activity is picking up at an impressive pace, with businesses imagining big deals again. IPO discussions are heating up nicely, while some offerings, he suggests, could be unprecedented in size.
Clearly, that’s a big shift in tone from the negative chatter we’ve seen about the economy lately.
Also, in a recent article I wrote, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan echoed that same optimism from a consumer angle.
According to Moynihan, BofA’s data showed that January activity ran nearly 5% above last year, as spending continues to climb across various income brackets.
Taken together, the message from Wall Street’s top floor is that despite the uneven growth, it’s still very much alive.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon says the macro setup for 2026 is “quite good,” citing fiscal stimulus and AI investment.Photo by Nicolò Campo on Getty Images ·Photo by Nicolò Campo on Getty Images
The big banks are coming off a power-packed earnings stretch.
Industry bellwethers such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and peers have, for the most part, shown that they continue to keep fees ticking up, protect margins, and efficiently manage credit risk despite a testy economy.
That’s indicative of healthy pipelines and client activity that have held up a lot better than the headlines currently suggest.
More Wall Street
Goldman’s latest quarterly report is a perfect example.
The bank posted a comfortable beat on earnings power, even with a specific drag linked to its exit from the Apple Card business.
Put together, the core machine looked solid, and a temporary accounting swing made the top-line figure look a lot softer than it really was.
EPS:$14.01 versus $11.65 expected (beat); up from $11.95 a year ago.
Revenue:$13.5 billion vs $13.9 billion expected (miss); down versus $13.9 billion last year.
Apple Card drag: Platform Solutions revenue swung to -$1.68 billion due to a $2.26 billion markdown tied to the pending Apple Card portfolio sale.
Credit costs: Provision was a +$2.12 billion benefit (reserve release), including a $2.48 billion reserve reduction tied to the Apple Card transfer.
Engines still running: Global Banking & Markets revenue $10.4 billion (+22% year-over-year); investment banking fees $2.58 billion (+25% year-over-year); equities $4.31 billion (+25% year-over-year), while FICC jumped +12% year over year despite a quarter-over-quarter dip. Source: Seeking Alpha
Solomon believes that the U.S. economy has a lot more lift than the “doom” crowd wants to admit at this point, Solomon told CNBC.
He backs it all up with actual growth expectations.
Solomon points to Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius, who projects an impressive 2.9% real growth along with 5% nominal growth, adding that we could potentially see better than that.
Related: BofA revamps Applied Materials stock price target after CEO message
Moreover, he connects his macro strength argument to the behavior in capital markets.
Solomon feels we’ve moved into an environment where businesses can once again freely explore strategic moves, reopening that pesky IPO window.
He explicitly states that he expects “more IPOs this year” and even “some very, very large IPOs unprecedented in size.”
The smaller IPOs, though, are still facing considerable headwinds as private capital remains abundant and offers founders a cleaner exit.
The optimism comes with a warning label.
He has “real concern” about deficits, arguing that the bond market has been “benign,” even with the Fed cuts totaling 1%.
Also, if growth doesn’t rise and remain elevated with improvements in deficits, things could get choppy.
The big banks are feeling a lot more confident about deal-making of late.
Their respective pipelines are building, with sponsors looking for exits, and corporate CEOs becoming much more willing to pull the trigger.
CEO Solomon put it bluntly at a UBS financial services conference in Florida, Reuters reported.
JPMorgan’s Troy Rohrbaugh, co-CEO of the Commercial & Investment Bank, struck a similar tone at the conference.
Goldman Sachs topped the list in global mergers and acquisitions, advising on an eye-watering $1.48 trillion worth of transactions, according to Reuters, while pulling in $4.6 billion in fees.
In 2025, banks saw another hot year on the investment side, with Morgan Stanley saying that global merger and acquisitions volume jumped to nearly 40% in 2025, backed by a record 60 deals valued over $10 billion.
And then there’s the fiery IPO market.
U.S. IPO proceeds surged to a whopping $44 billion in 2025, up substantially from $29.6 billion in 2024 and just $19.5 billion in 2023, per Renaissance Capital.
Backing that up, PwC said that so-called “traditional IPOs” raised a massive $33.6 billion in 2025, with a backlog of deals pushing into this year.
So far, it seems that 2026 could be another huge year for IPOs.
Goldman Sachs said U.S. IPO proceeds could potentially quadruple to $160 billion (ranging from $80 billion to $200 billion), per reporting from Reuters, with the IPO count doubling to nearly 120 offerings.
Renaissance Capital, though, projects a more normalized trajectory, at 200 to 230 IPOs in 2026, raising somewhere between $40 billion and $60 billion.
SpaceX: A rumored IPO is in the cards for June, Reuters reports. It’s potentially valued at north of $1.5 trillion, with over $25.6 billion raised, setting a record.
OpenAI: The groundwork is laid for a deal valuing it at $1 trillion (timing discussed in the second half of 2026).
Anthropic: IPO prep is set to begin as early as 2026, with the latest round implied at a nearly $350 billion valuation, Financial Times reported.
Stripe: A tender offer points to a valuation at or above $140 billion, keeping IPO chatter alive in the process, according to Bloomberg.
Databricks: Fresh funding pegged the Big Data player’s valuation at a whopping $134 billion after a $5 billion raise.
Related: JPMorgan doubles down on S&P 500 target for one key reason
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Feb 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the Economy section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
ThePostMaster
