Goldman has a lot riding on its consumer project. Traditional investment banking and trading, Goldman’s bread-and-butter businesses, are highly lucrative but can wilt in a market downturn. A strong consumer business could provide a stable revenue base that, in turn, could win Goldman a more generous stock valuation. But the business hasn’t yet turned a profit, and Goldman isn’t saying when it thinks it will. Still, the bank expects the consumer business to top $4b in annual revenue by 2024, roughly double what it is on pace to bring in this year.
“There are lots of partnership opportunities and lots of people coming to us, given our relationships, our technology, et cetera, that are interested in doing things with us,” Mr. Solomon told analysts last week.