Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Other Major U.S. Banks' Q1 Stock Buyback Expenditure Hits Record High

Odaily News: Benefiting from profit growth and the Trump administration's more relaxed regulatory rules, the largest U.S. banks collectively invested a record $33 billion in stock buybacks in the first quarter of 2026, significantly exceeding market expectations. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup all conducted their largest-ever stock buybacks. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley's buyback scales reached their highest levels in several years.

Chris Kotowski, a senior analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. who tracks large bank stocks, stated, "The actual buyback scale of each bank was 30%, 40%, or even 50% higher than our model predicted." Additionally, the Trump administration is implementing the most significant deregulation policy for Wall Street since the 2008 financial crisis, allowing banks to allocate more resources to lending and shareholder returns rather than strengthening their capital buffers. (Jin10)