Investors who owned stocks since 2016 generally experienced some big gains. In fact, the SPDR S&P 500 SPY total return in the last five years is 120.4%. But there’s no question some big-name stocks didn’t keep pace along the way.
Goldman’s Struggle: One market laggard of the past five years was Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS, which reported a fourth-quarter earnings beat Tuesday.
Big banks were crushed during the worst of the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. Prior to the collapse, Goldman Sachs was considered to be one of the strongest investment banks on Wall Street.
In fact, critics pointed to Goldman’s $4 billion in profit from short selling subprime mortgage-backed securities as the type of banking behavior that exacerbated an already difficult situation.
By the beginning of 2016, Goldman Sachs shares had worked their way all the way up to around $176. By midyear, the stock dropped down to $138.20 following a bout of early 2016 volatility related to concerns over an economic slowdown in China.
Goldman then went on a tear for the remainder of 2016, approaching $250 by the end of the year. The stock made it to $275.31 by early 2018 before stalling out.
The stock pulled back to as low as $151.70 by the end of the year due to the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. The U.S. Justice Department charged former Goldman executives for their alleged role in a scheme in which $4.5 billion was embezzled via money laundering, abuse of power and corruption on behalf of the former Malaysian prime minister and other politicians.
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Goldman Sachs In 2021, Beyond: Goldman shares rebounded as high as $250.46 in early 2020 before the COVID-19 sell-off pushed the stock back down to $130.85, its low point of the last five years.
Since then, Goldman shares have soared to new all-time highs above $300.
Goldman investors that bought and held on through a volatile five-year period turned a significant profit. In fact, $1,000 worth of Goldman stock bought in 2016 would be worth about $2,108 today, assuming reinvested dividends.
Looking ahead, analysts expect Goldman to take a breather in the next 12 months. The average price target among the 25 analysts covering the stock is $306, suggesting only 1.6% upside from current levels.
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