Why Bank of America is Betting Big on Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) Stock

Wall Street''s love affair with Goldman Sachs just got hotter—Bank of America is doubling down.

Here''s why the smart money can''t quit GS.

The Goldman Sachs allure: More than just a suit factory

BofA''s analysts see hidden value where others see another stuffy investment bank. Trading desks? Printing money. Asset management? Bulging. Even their consumer arm—yes, really—is starting to pull weight.

The institutional advantage

While fintechs burn cash on customer acquisition, Goldman''s Rolodex of Fortune 500 CEOs prints recurring revenue. Old-school? Maybe. Profitable? Absolutely.

The cynical take

Of course BofA loves Goldman—they''re the last two banks still charging $25 for wire transfers in the crypto age.

Bottom line: When the whales back a whale, retail investors should at least glance at the pitchbook.

Confident Investing Starts Here:

• Easily unpack a company''s performance with TipRanks'' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions
• Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks'' Smart Value Newsletter

Bank of America analyst Ebrahim Poonawala, who has a five-star rating on TipRanks, kept the Buy rating in place and also set a $700 per share price target on Goldman Sachs shares. That is a 12% upside against the closing price on Wednesday, reports note, which came in at $624.17 per share.

Poonawala took particular pains to call out Goldman Sachs’ extensive history, noting that it has “…proven DNA to adapt to an ever-changing world.” Poonawala also pointed out Goldman Sachs’ background in surviving economic downturn, including the 2008 financial crisis as well as the entirety of Paul Volcker’s tenure at the Federal Reserve, running from 1979 to 1987. Further, Poonawala cited “…a strong combination of scale and flexibility” as reasons to get behind—and stay behind—Goldman Sachs.

Job Hunters, Stay Off the AI

In an odd twist, Goldman Sachs took an unusual stance when it comes to using artificial intelligence (AI), particularly during job interviews. While many companies are requiring a certain amount of AI fluency just to get in the door, Goldman Sachs is warning job seekers not to turn to use it during interviews. In fact, reports noted, those caught doing so may actually be disqualified from seeking work with the company.

Given that half of Goldman Sachs’ own employees have full access to AI, this might seem odd, even hypocritical. Back in January, we discovered that Goldman Sachs even has its own internal generative AI tool known as GS AI. But Goldman Sachs asserts that the responses are not “tailored and unique to the individual,” and thus, may actually do more harm than good.

Is Goldman Sachs a Buy, Sell or Hold?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on GS stock based on eight Buys and seven Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 39.84% rally in its share price over the past year, the average GS price target of $611.54 per share implies 1.96% downside risk.

Disclosure