MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images; Jeenah Moon/Reuters
- Wall Street's top bankers struck a bullish tone on deal pipelines and M&A momentum this week.Advisory, equity, and debt underwriting revenues jumped sharply across five major US banks.Consultants say growing backlogs could lift banker pay as optimism stretches into 2026.
If there was one buzzword to capture banking chiefs' mood during third-quarter earnings week, it was "pipeline."
In Wall Street parlance, that refers to the backlog of deals investment banks are readying to bring to market — and from mega-merger powerhouses like Goldman Sachs to equity underwriting giants like Morgan Stanley, everyone was eager to emphasize that their pipelines are finally beginning to flow again.
Together, five of the biggest US banks reported broad-based improvement across advisory, equity, and debt underwriting — the first time in several years that deal activity has strengthened simultaneously across all three.
"Our pipeline remains robust," JPMorgan's chief financial officer, Jeremy Barnum, told investors on Tuesday. "I think it was the busiest summer we've had in a long time in terms of announcement activity. We're seeing that play through into acquisition finance," he added later, pointing to a more positive rate environment.
At Bank of America, CFO Alastair Borthwick said deal flow was "up this quarter, up over double digits. So we feel good about the pipeline."
"It feels like a good environment" for mergers, he added.
Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick also sounded optimistic, while acknowledging that it's impossible to read the future. "Whether we are entering a golden age of investment banking remains to be seen, but it has been several years of chatter around green shoots, and now the flywheel is taking hold," he said during the firm's earnings call on Wednesday.
Here's how banking chiefs are thinking about the current prognosis for the three pillars of IB business: mergers, public issuances, and corporate lending.
Mergers and acquisitions
Goldman Sachs said the quarter had generated its "third highest quarterly net revenues."
"Recently, we hit the milestone of advising on over $1 trillion in announced M&A volumes for 2025 year-to-date," CEO David Solomon said on Tuesday. He said financial sponsors are sitting on more than $1 trillion in so-called "dry powder" — liquidity waiting to be deployed — leading Goldman to conclude that "the setup remains constructive."
Jane Fraser, the CEO of Citigroup, said the firm intends to wrap up the year "with momentum into 2026." Her investment banking unit — which has been steered by former JPMorgan dealmaker Viswas Raghavan for the past year — saw revenues jump 17% quarter over quarter and 23% year on year to $1.15 billion.
Public issuances
Equity capital markets also showed renewed life.
Morgan Stanley reported equity underwriting revenues up 80% from a year ago, fueled by what it called "record-breaking post-Labor Day issuance." Citi said equity underwriting grew 35%, while BofA's equity underwriting fees of $362 million climbed 34%.
Executives across the banks pointed to a backlog of IPOs stretching into 2026 as companies prepare to return to public markets. One factor that could delay new listings and threaten the rebound is the US government shutdown, now entering its third week. Washington's gridlock has halted much of the day-to-day functioning of regulatory agencies, including the SEC, which oversees the IPO process.
Corporate loans and debt
Debt issuance followed the same trend.
At Citi, corporate lending revenues were up 39%, contributing to heightened IB revenues overall, while debt underwriting fees were up 19%. Bank of America's debt underwriting fees shot up 42% to $1.1 billion.
Chris Connors, a principal at the compensation consultancy Johnson Associates, told Business Insider that the results predicted healthy paydays for bankers come year's end.
"The signs are pointing positive for bonuses this year across the board," Connors told Business Insider on Tuesday. "Advisory incentives are going to be up as well — the backlogs are strong, and I think there's just an optimism that the rest of the year is going to produce pretty positive results when it comes to M&A."
The banks' clients "are more comfortable about the long-term outlook," he concluded, "and optimistic that deals are going to get done in the fourth quarter."
