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Earnings Roundup: Which Big Companies Beat or Missed This Week

Earnings Roundup: Which Big Companies Beat or Missed This Week

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Earnings Roundup: Which Big Companies Beat or Missed This Week

October 20, 2026 | ATN Trade & Finance

The Q3 2026 earnings season opened with a clear theme: Wall Street's trading desks are printing money while Main Street lending is grinding. Goldman Sachs blew past estimates, JPMorgan missed for the first time in nine quarters, and Netflix beat on the quarter but spooked investors with softer-than-expected guidance.

Goldman Sachs: The Standout Beat

Goldman posted EPS of $17.01 against a consensus of $13.09 — a 30% beat — on revenue of $18.68 billion (versus $16.86 billion expected). Equities trading revenue surged 72% year-over-year to $6.44 billion, including a record $3.37 billion in equities financing. Advisory fees hit a quarterly record of $1.65 billion, and assets under supervision reached a record $4.1 trillion. Net income rose 29% to $5.29 billion. A $450 million charitable contribution reduced EPS by roughly $1; excluding it, the quarter was even stronger.

JPMorgan: A Rare Miss

JPMorgan reported EPS of $5.57 (or $5.75 excluding a $658 million securities loss), versus the $5.90–$5.93 consensus — a miss the bank hadn't posted in eight prior quarters. Revenue of $50.17 billion also came in below the $51.23 billion forecast. The miss masks a strong underlying picture: net interest income rose 13% to $27.1 billion, equities trading gained 49%, and the bank raised its full-year NII outlook to $106.2 billion. Fixed income trading fell 4%.

Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Bank of America

Morgan Stanley beat on both lines — EPS $3.03 vs. $2.93, revenue $20.3 billion vs. $19.9 billion — with equities up 41% and wealth management hitting a record $9.1 billion. Citigroup beat on EPS ($2.85 vs. $2.65) and revenue ($23.85B vs. $23.72B), with expenses down 2%. Wells Fargo eked out a narrow EPS beat ($1.87 vs. $1.84) but missed on revenue, and provisions rose to $1.03 billion from $681 million. Bank of America's adjusted EPS of $1.08 topped estimates, though a $1.2 billion regulatory settlement charge weighed on reported figures.

The six major banks combined for approximately $43.5 billion in profit on roughly $165 billion in revenue. Equities trading grew at every bank; fixed income was flat or down at most.

UnitedHealth Raises Guidance

UnitedHealth reported adjusted EPS of $4.69, topping estimates, and raised its full-year outlook to at least $20.50 per share from $19.50–$20.00. Its medical care ratio improved to 88.4% from 89.9% a year ago — a positive signal on claims normalization.

Netflix: Beat on the Quarter, Miss on Guidance

Reporting today after the bell, Netflix posted EPS of $0.87 (versus $0.82 expected) on revenue of $12.87 billion, in line with the $12.88 billion consensus. Operating margin expanded to 34.6% from 28.2% a year ago. But the stock fell 4.3% to $65.79 in after-hours trading after the company guided Q4 revenue to $13.44 billion — slightly below the $13.51 billion consensus — and Q4 EPS to $0.67, a near-8% miss versus expectations.

What this means: The dominant story in Q3 financials is the equities trading surge — Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and JPMorgan all posted double-digit or better gains in equity desks, reflecting the volatility generated by the Hormuz conflict, the semiconductor selloff, and AI infrastructure credit stress. The Netflix reaction is a reminder that in this rate environment, a guidance miss on the margin carries more weight than a solid headline beat.

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