Goldman Sachs Flat After Q3 Earnings Release

Leading Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs GS released its fiscal third-quarter earnings results prior to the opening bell on Tuesday. The stock is trading near the flat-line on Tuesday afternoon, and was last up 0.30 percent to $124.87. The bank's chairman and chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein said "This quarter's performance was generally solid in the context of a still challenging economic environment." Goldman reported third-quarter profit of $1.46 billion or $2.85 per share, compared to a loss of $428 million or $0.84 per share, in the year earlier period. This came in ahead of Wall Street analysts consensus EPS estimates of $2.12. Revenues in the quarter were $8.35 billion versus $3.59 billion last year. This also came in well ahead of analysts' consensus estimates of $7.30 billion. The company's board of directors authorized a dividend increase of 4 cents to $0.50 per share. Year-to-date, GS has surged more than 38 percent.