The stock dropped roughly 2% intraday after initially plunging more than 4% at the open — even as the bank reported earnings and revenue that topped expectations.

Investors also weighed the potential impact of the Iran conflict on dealmaking and market activity.

Goldman posted net income of $5.63 billion on revenue of $17.23 billion for the quarter, with earnings per share of $17.55 — topping analyst estimates of $16.49 per share on revenue of about $16.97 billion.

Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon warned that geopolitical tensions could weigh on dealmaking and market activity if they persist. REUTERS

But the strong headline results were overshadowed by a sharp miss in a key business line: fixed-income trading.

Revenue from fixed income, currencies and commodities — known as FICC — came in at roughly $4 billion, falling short of expectations by as much as $900 million, according to estimates cited by analysts.

The shortfall in FICC, a core driver of institutional trading revenue, weighed heavily on investor sentiment and sparked concerns about whether trading conditions are beginning to soften.

Weakness wasn’t limited to trading. The firm’s asset and wealth management division generated $4.08 billion in revenue, falling roughly $140 million short of analyst expectations.

At the same time, Goldman reported a larger-than-expected provision for credit losses, booking about $315 million — more than double the roughly $150 million analysts had anticipated.

Goldman Sachs shares fell Monday despite strong earnings, as investors focused on weak spots in trading and rising credit costs. Google Market

The higher provision raised questions about potential stress in the bank’s lending portfolio and exposure to private credit markets.

It was the bank’s largest increase in loan loss provisions since 2020, Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo said in a note cited by CNBC.

Nonetheless, the company offered to a positive take on the first-quarter results.

“Goldman Sachs delivered very strong performance for our shareholders this quarter, even as market conditions became more volatile,” CEO David Solomon said.

“Our clients continue to depend on us for high quality execution and insights amid the broader uncertainty, and we remain confident in how we’ve positioned our businesses.”

Speaking on a conference call later Monday, Solomon said dealmaking activity has remained resilient but warned he is closely tracking developments in Iran and the broader Middle East region.

“If the resolution of the conflict drags, that probably will be a headwind in some of these areas, particularly inflation trends as we get further into the second and the third quarter,” Solomon said. “So we’ll have to watch that.”

Shares of Goldman Sachs declined after a key trading division underperformed expectations. REUTERS

Solomon also struck an optimistic tone on dealmaking, saying executives he has spoken with “believe they have an opportunity to drive scale and consolidation” that wasn’t possible under the Biden administration.

Some analysts warned that the outlook for dealmaking remains uncertain.

“The absence of a material increase in [investment banking] activity over a sustained period and/or a cool-down in market performance could lead to disappointment and a sharp correction,” Saul Martinez, head of US financials research at HSBC, told the Wall Street Journal.

Investors appeared to look past the firm’s strong performance in other areas.

Equities trading revenue surged to a record level during the quarter, while investment banking fees rebounded sharply amid a pickup in dealmaking activity.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase rose about 0.8%, while Bank of America gained roughly 0.7%, reflecting a modestly positive tone across large-cap lenders.

The broader KBW Bank Index was little changed, pointing to a flat-to-slightly-positive session for the sector, while the Invesco KBW Bank ETF hovered in the mid-$80s range.

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Brent crude oil hit $86 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude jumped above $90 – pushing national average gasoline prices to $3.32 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 562 points, or 1.2%, by Friday afternoon while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 1.1% and 1%, respectively.

US oil prices surged to $90 a barrel on Friday after President Trump demanded unconditional surrender from Iran. REUTERS

Investors are fearful that an ongoing conflict could prolong Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime route for 20% of the world’s oil supply – which economists have warned could slam gasoline prices and overall inflation.

“I don’t have any concern about it,” Trump told Reuters Thursday, when asked about higher prices at the pump. “They’ll drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit.”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright predicted Friday morning that gas prices will come down in a matter of “weeks, not months,” during an interview with “Fox & Friends.”

Qatar’s energy minister Saad al-Kaabi, meanwhile, said he expects all Gulf energy exporters to shut down “within days” – potentially pushing oil as high as $150 a barrel.

“This will bring down the economies of the world,” Kaabi told the Financial Times Friday. 

“If this war continues for a few weeks, GDP growth around the world will be impacted. Everybody’s energy price is going to go higher. There will be shortages of some products and there will be a chain reaction of factories that cannot supply.”

Even if the war ended immediately, it would take Qatar “weeks to months” to return to a normal level of output after an Iranian drone strike forced it to close its largest liquified natural gas plant, the Ras Laffan, he said.

Qatar’s energy minister warned a lasting Iran conflict could “bring down the economies of the world.” AP

“Everybody that has not called for force majeure we expect will do so in the next few days that this continues,” Kaabi said, referring to a legal clause used when a company cannot meet contractual obligations due to external circumstances.

“All exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure. If they don’t, they are at some point going to pay the liability for that legally, and that’s their choice.”

Though countries differ on their principal source of oil supply, the global market is ultimately integrated – so the supply disruption hitting China, Russia, India and other nations still has an impact on the US, according to Kenin Spivak, chief executive of SMI Group.

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As the Iran conflict disrupts oil supplies, the US on Thursday issued a 30-day waiver for India to buy Russian oil – a sharp reversal from its earlier stance, which saw it slap a 25% tariff on the nation as punishment for buying energy from Moscow.

The Trump administration revoked the tariff last month on the condition that India would buy less energy from Russia and more oil from the US. Since then, India has also been purchasing more supply from the Middle East.

“This deliberately short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorizes transactions involving oil already stranded at sea,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a post on X Thursday. 

Investors are fearful that an ongoing conflict could prolong Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH/EPA/Shutterstock

Earlier in the week, Trump also offered political risk insurance for oil tankers in the Gulf – adding that the US Navy will escort vessels, if necessary.

“Further action to reduce pressure on oil is imminent and…in the long-term, the actions we’re taking will dramatically increase the stability of the region and oil prices,” Trump said Thursday.

A White House official told The Post that the US economy is strong enough to weather any temporary oil price shocks, nodding to recent inflation data.

Consumer inflation slowed to 2.4% in January, its tamest pace since last May – though wholesale inflation heated up to 2.9%, according to the most recently-available government data.

The US on Thursday issued a 30-day waiver for India to buy Russian oil. AFP via Getty Images

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership in his first term and current term, the United States remains the largest crude oil and natural gas producer in the world,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Post. 

“President Trump’s entire energy team, from the White House to the National Energy Dominance Council to Secretaries Wright and Bessent, have a game plan to keep oil prices stable throughout Operation Epic Fury,” Leavitt said.

Many shippers will likely continue avoiding the Strait of Hormuz despite the proposal for the US Navy to escort oil tankers, since it is unlikely to lead insurers to return coverage to pre-war levels of availability or cost, Spivak told The Post.

The biggest question on investors’ minds is how long the conflict will continue.

“If Trump pulls out within the next week or two, then we can snap back big time and see crude come flying back down,” Mahoney Asset Management CEO Ken Mahoney told The Post.

“The longer this goes on, and the longer crude stays elevated and moving up in price, the worse this may get. Oil is the ‘hot potato’ that gets passed along, fueling inflation,” he added.

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For days, Attorney General Pam Bondi had talked about releasing the “Epstein files,” supposedly secret documents the federal government has on some of the powerful men who were in the orbit of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

But the roughly 200 pages of documents that Ms. Bondi released on Thursday contained little new information pointing to wrongdoing by anyone other than Mr. Epstein, a registered sex offender who died in jail. The document dump largely consisted of flight logs for Mr. Epstein’s planes — long ago made public — and contact information for hundreds of associates, along with brief descriptions of items found at his residences.

The release was billed as a gesture ushering in a new era of transparency at the Justice Department. But the hyped first release of documents (which Ms. Bondi teased as “breaking news” in a Fox News appearance on Wednesday night) appeared to be mostly political theater. Its confusing daylong rollout even spun off a few new conspiracy theories among some Trump supporters, who view the Epstein investigation as a fountainhead for other conspiracies.

On Thursday afternoon, Ms. Bondi and Kash Patel, the director of the F.B.I., offered a sneak preview of the documents to several conservative influencers, some of whom emerged from the West Wing waving chunky white binders with the label “The Epstein Files: Phase I.” One of them later called it an “interesting souvenir.”

But by midafternoon, the Justice Department had not posted the contents. And Ms. Bondi was drawing criticism on social media from those who had taken her at her word the night before. The conservative personality Glenn Beck posted on X: “The Epstein files are a total joke,” and asked, “Who is subverting POTUS?”

Ms. Bondi responded by promising more documents to come. Later, she said that a “source” in the F.B.I. field office in New York City had told her the bureau withheld “thousands” of previously unknown pages of Epstein-related documents and that she was determined to get them, according to a letter her spokesman provided to reporters.

The documents were released late on Thursday, along with a statement from Mr. Patel that said: “If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will uncover them.”

Still, some Republicans in Congress took to X to voice displeasure with the information released by Ms. Bondi.

“THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!” wrote Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida.

Mr. Epstein, a college dropout and self-proclaimed financial whiz, killed himself in August 2019 — one month after his arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Mr. Epstein is believed to have sexually abused more than 200 teenage girls and young women over three decades. During that time, he amassed a fortune worth $600 million and befriended some of the most powerful and famous people in the world.

Included in the documents, which were finally posted on Thursday night, was an entirely redacted list of 254 people described as masseuses.

Many of the boldface names associated with Mr. Epstein first came to light in 2015 when Gawker published his so-called black book of names, numbers and addresses.

That list includes the retail magnate Leslie Wexner, the private equity mogul Leon Black, the Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and the venture capitalist Reid Hoffman. All of those men have said they regretted their association with Mr. Epstein.

It has also long been known that President Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew of Britain and celebrities including Kevin Spacey and Naomi Campbell were friendly with Mr. Epstein at one time, and some traveled on Mr. Epstein’s private planes, according to previously released flight logs, trial testimony and court filings.

The most notable flight log was a 118-page document produced during the criminal trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, one of Mr. Epstein’s longtime associates and a former girlfriend. She was convicted in 2021 on charges that she aided Mr. Epstein in his sex-trafficking activities.

While Justice Department leaders claimed the papers released on Thursday were “declassified,” none of them had classification markings — or declassification markings.

The document release on Thursday was a moment that said much about the Trump administration. The two most powerful law enforcement officials in the country, Ms. Bondi and Mr. Patel, who are responsible for overseeing vital national security and criminal investigations, chose to prioritize a long-concluded case to assuage conservative media and the obsessive core of Trump supporters who see the case as nefarious unfinished business.

For years, conspiracy theorists have believed there is a grand plot by the government to conceal not only the cause of Mr. Epstein’s death but the names of powerful men who also abused some of the victims, who included teenage girls and women.

On right-wing media platforms like Fox News and Mr. Trump’s own service, Truth Social, there long has been talk of an “Epstein client list” that details the names of men for whom Mr. Epstein procured women. But there has never been a reference to any “client list” in any of the civil litigation brought by victims.

Before joining the Trump administration, Ms. Bondi fueled some of that speculation herself by talking in media interviews about the government’s refusal to release Epstein documents.

The F.B.I. also has refused to release some documents requested by lawyers for victims and the news media. In October, the F.B.I. rejected a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The New York Times seeking a list of all items seized by federal agents when they searched Mr. Epstein’s residences in New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands after his July 2019 arrest.

The documents released by Ms. Bondi may include partial descriptions of some of those items seized by federal agents. Under the heading “evidence list,” there are brief descriptions of items like “VHS tape,” “envelope containing 4 CDs” and “photo depicting two girls.”

More than two dozen of Mr. Epstein’s victims have joined a lawsuit charging the F.B.I. with mishandling earlier investigations into his activities and ignoring complaints filed by victims.

Jordan Merson, whose law firm is handling that lawsuit, said that Ms. Bondi had taken a good first step and that he hoped this “will lead to her taking seriously the pain of the victims” who were suing the F.B.I.

Devlin Barrett contributed reporting.

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Amazon workers voted overwhelmingly against a bid to unionize their North Carolina warehouse, the National Labor Relations Board said on Saturday, the latest setback in labor organizing efforts at the e-commerce giant.

Workers at the RDU1 fulfillment center in Garner, outside of Raleigh, voted 2,447 to 829 against unionizing with Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, or CAUSE, an upstart union founded by warehouse workers in 2022.

Organizers at the warehouse, which employs more than 4,000 people, sought starting wages of $30 an hour. The current pay range is about $18 to $24, Amazon said. The union also demanded longer lunch breaks and increased vacation time.

In a statement, leaders of CAUSE said the election outcome was the result of Amazon’s “relentless and illegal efforts to intimidate us.” They did not say whether they would challenge the outcome, but vowed to keep trying to organize.

Eileen Hards, a spokeswoman for Amazon, wrote: “We’re glad that our team in Garner was able to have their voices heard, and that they chose to keep a direct relationship with Amazon.”

Leading up to the election, the worker-led union filed charges with the labor relations board accusing Amazon of interfering with employees’ protected union activity. The company gave preferential treatment to workers who did not support the union, according to the charges filed by CAUSE. Amazon also unfairly fired the co-founder of the union one week before workers filed for a union election in December, CAUSE said in a filing.

Amazon denied any election interference. Employees have the choice of whether to join a union, and the company talks “openly, candidly and respectfully” about unionization, Ms. Hards said before the vote. She said the CAUSE co-founder had been fired for “repeated misconduct that included making derogatory and racist comments to his co-workers.”

Addressing demands voiced by the union, Ms. Hards said the company already offered safe workplaces, competitive pay, industry-leading benefits and consistent scheduling. The CAUSE union, she added, “has no experience representing workers or their interests.”

On top of what they characterized as resistance from the company, organizers at the warehouse faced an environment in the South that has historically been hostile to unions. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, union membership in North Carolina last year was 2.4 percent, the lowest rate in the country and far below the national average of 9.9 percent.

Amazon has aggressively fended off union campaigns and stalled the bargaining process in multiple segments of its business, including warehouses, delivery operations and grocery stores.

In 2022, workers at a Staten Island warehouse in New York voted to form Amazon’s first union in the United States; it is now affiliated with the Teamsters union. Amazon has challenged the election outcome in court, and has refused to recognize the union or bargain with it. Delivery drivers, who work for third-party package delivery companies serving Amazon, have also mounted campaigns with the Teamsters.

The Trump administration’s moves at the labor relations board since the inauguration — including the replacement of the general counsel appointed in the Biden administration, who was considered friendly to labor — could further embolden employers to clamp down on organizing and refuse to bargain, labor law experts said.

Workers at a Philadelphia location of Whole Foods Market voted in January to affiliate with the United Food and Commercial Workers union, establishing the first union beachhead at the Amazon-owned grocery chain. In a filing with the labor board challenging the election, the company cited President Trump’s firing of a Democratic board member, which stripped the board of a quorum necessary to issue decisions.

In January, Amazon said that it was closing its warehouse and logistics operations in the Canadian province of Quebec, where unions had gained a foothold among some Amazon workers, and that it would lay off 1,700 employees.

The North Carolina election is not the first unsuccessful union bid among Amazon warehouse workers. In 2021, workers at a warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., voted against unionizing, but labor officials later ruled that Amazon had illegally influenced the election. Workers voted a second time in 2022, but the outcome was too close to call, prompting a labor judge to order a third election. That vote has yet to be held, and Amazon has denied wrongdoing.

“Ultimately, the biggest thing that we’re fighting for is dignity,” Italo Medelius-Marsano, a member of the CAUSE organizing committee who works at the RDU1 ship dock, said before the vote. “We’re making sure Amazon knows that we are human beings,” he said, citing the movement’s catch phrase: “I am not a robot.”

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