Liz
Showing 1–15 of 162 transcripts.
- Goldman Sachs7 min
The ESG Case for E-Commerce
Goldman Sachs Research highlights three primary tensions between e-commerce expansion and ESG goals: carbon efficiency from consolidated logistics, packaging waste accounting for 20% of the market's total, and opaque labor conditions within rapidly growing fulfillment networks. While delivery fleets transition to low-emission vehicles, industry leaders like Amazon and MercadoLibre are launching pilots to address plastic recycling and reusable container systems, though significant challenges in workforce transparency remain unresolved. The firm advises investors to demand standardized data on job quality and cyber risks to mitigate potential regulatory and reputational exposures as the sector's reliance on customer data intensifies.
- Goldman Sachs12 min
Behind the Numbers: Goldman Sachs’ CFO on Second Quarter Earnings Results
Goldman Sachs reported a robust second quarter driven by record investment banking backlog levels, $1 billion in equity underwriting revenues, and a 18% return on equity in global markets. The firm is accelerating a strategic transition toward a fund-format model while prioritizing capital returns through doubled dividends and variable share repurchases to support stock value. Despite facing macroeconomic, geopolitical, and cybersecurity risks, management remains confident in the outlook, noting a significant return to physical office collaboration and strong sponsor-led M&A activity.
- Goldman Sachs33 min
Jeff Shesol, Historian and Author
The 1962 orbital flight of John Glenn succeeded in overcoming technical failures and a false heat shield alarm to counter Soviet space superiority, an event that cemented the Cold War rivalry while exposing internal NASA tensions regarding astronaut selection. Decades later, the geopolitical landscape has shifted as China and Russia develop aggressive counter-space capabilities, yet current NASA funding remains a fraction of historical levels compared to the 1960s. Meanwhile, the public focus has pivoted toward commercial space entrepreneurs, though skepticism persists regarding the economic viability of mass market space tourism.
- Goldman Sachs6 min
At the Half: Taking Stock of Market Performance and Themes to Watch Ahead
During Q2 2021, global equity markets delivered robust double-digit gains driven by a significant value-over-growth rotation and surging European capital inflows that have reached their highest levels since 2015. Hedge funds, systematic quant strategies, and mutual funds all posted strong year-to-date returns, coinciding with record-breaking ESG asset growth and a buoyant outlook for M&A activity fueled by over $2 trillion in available dry powder. While historical data suggests favorable momentum for the remainder of the year, investors are beginning to moderate risk appetite as the market navigates potential inflation concerns and the absence of a standardized global ESG framework.
- Goldman Sachs8 min
Europe in Vogue: What’s Driving Stronger Flows into European Equity
Driven by the EU Recovery Fund, rapid vaccine rollouts, and aggressive fiscal support, European equities are experiencing their strongest inflows since 2015 as structural headwinds of slow growth and low inflation recede. Analysts forecast 40–50% earnings growth this year, fueled by a strategic pivot toward digital economy companies and decarbonization initiatives that are attracting ESG-focused funds and foreign capital. While domestic institutional investors remain under-allocated due to a historical preference for fixed income, the sector is poised for a structural recovery by aligning with global innovation trends and addressing a decade of underperformance.
- Goldman Sachs11 min
Biotech and the Transition from Pandemic to Endemic
The event analyzes the global transition toward an endemic phase for COVID-19, highlighting a significant disparity where Western nations with high immunization rates differ from the majority of countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America that remain in the pandemic stage. Industry leaders at BioNTech, Pfizer, and Moderna are currently developing multivalent mRNA vaccines to merge seasonal flu and coronavirus protection, shifting strategies toward frequent boosters to manage waning immunity. The discussion underscores the unprecedented speed of regulatory transparency and clinical development achieved last year while warning against complacency as the world prepares for future pandemic threats.
- Goldman Sachs8 min
Unicorns and Soonicorns: What’s Driving Significant Growth in European Tech
Goldman Sachs analysis reveals that the European tech sector has undergone a transformation marked by a six-fold surge in venture capital and the emergence of 120 unicorns, with market capitalization now surpassing financial and natural resources industries combined. Founders have shifted strategic ambitions from seeking billion-dollar exits to pursuing massive public listings, resulting in a record year of tech IPOs and a forecasted creation of five to ten superunicorns exceeding $100 billion within the next decade. Despite challenges regarding the exodus of enterprise software to the U.S., the region continues to diversify beyond e-commerce into fintech, software, and health tech, positioning itself for a supercycle of public market growth over the next five to ten years.
- Goldman Sachs8 min
How Companies Are Accelerating the Transition to Clean Energy
Driven by the International Energy Association's 2050 net-zero targets, the global energy transition prioritizes investment in hydrogen, solar, and battery storage while navigating significant infrastructure and cost challenges. Market analysis identifies hydrogen for heavy-duty trucking and solar utility sectors as primary growth vectors, yet advises investors to bypass commoditized manufacturing in favor of high-barrier storage, transportation, and engineering services. Despite rapid cost reductions in solar and battery technologies, the sector remains in its early stages, requiring careful evaluation of emerging carbon capture methods to meet the substantial gigaton-scale emissions reduction goals.
- Goldman Sachs8 min
Charging Up Electric Vehicle Battery Production Across EMEA
Driven by a projected quadrupling of European EV demand, major automotive manufacturers have elevated battery production to a boardroom-level strategic priority to secure supply chain autonomy against China's market dominance. Industry leaders are rapidly scaling lithium-ion capacity with state-backed initiatives and capital flows to lower costs, while solid-state technology remains a medium-term evolution rather than an immediate replacement. Goldman Sachs is positioning itself within this early-stage mega trend to facilitate value creation for emerging winners while aligning profit generation with the decarbonization of the global transport sector.
- Goldman Sachs10 min
Activism Activity on the Rise
Shareholder activism has reached record levels driven by a surge in non-dedicated participants and a robust M&A market that is fueling a wave of corporate separations and portfolio simplifications. Concurrently, the focus of campaigns has shifted decisively toward ESG themes, with major capital holders like BlackRock and millennial investors pressuring boards to align compensation and strategy with sustainability goals. Companies now face a complex landscape where they must aggressively monitor valuation gaps, prepare for aggressive ESG-related proxy contests, and reconsider their public status to mitigate risks from both specialized activists and opportunistic retail investors.
- Goldman Sachs13 min
A “Superbloom” in M&A and Separation Activity
Driven by post-pandemic strategic reassessments and macroeconomic tailwinds such as low interest rates and high liquidity, corporate boards are accelerating a "super bloom" of global M&A and separation activity. Clients are increasingly pursuing tax-efficient structures like reverse Morris Trusts and partial carve-outs to simplify diversified portfolios, supported by the sheer scale of enterprise value and geographic complexity facing S&P and FTSE companies. While geopolitical tensions pose potential regulatory hurdles, Goldman Sachs anticipates this trend of creative deal-making and large-scale transactions will persist in the near term.
- Goldman Sachs14 min
What’s Next for Central Bank Digital Currencies
Central banks globally are accelerating the development of Central Bank Digital Currencies to counter private digital currency risks and modernize payment infrastructure, with most adopting hybrid models intermediated by commercial banks rather than direct public access. While emerging markets prioritize financial inclusion and advanced economies focus on system robustness, designs increasingly balance benefits like faster settlements against risks of bank disintermediation and criminal activity through capped holdings and reduced anonymity. These initial conservative iterations aim to reduce costs and enhance competition without disrupting monetary policy or fiscal mechanisms, reserving advanced programmable features for future radical versions.
- Goldman Sachs9 min
Commercial Real Estate and the Economic Recovery
Goldman Sachs analysts project divergent pandemic-era trajectories for real estate investment trusts, with industrial sectors capitalizing on e-commerce logistics while office and retail markets navigate complex shifts in utilization and long-term demand. A dramatic reversal in CEO sentiment regarding space requirements, coupled with hybrid work models that still necessitate full-week capacity, suggests office occupancy and rent growth will improve sequentially starting in late summer. Meanwhile, open-air retail centers are expected to recover temporarily through tenant re-filling, whereas mall REITs face structural challenges from e-commerce, and all sectors face varying inflationary hedges depending on lease terms ranging from daily resets to decade-long escalators.
- Goldman Sachs13 min
The Daily Check-In: China’s Path to Carbon Neutral: Addressing the Upstream
China is accelerating its carbon decarbonization strategy by launching an updated national "Carbon Act" and activating an Emissions Trading System to cover over 2,000 power generators, targeting upstream industries that collectively account for 10% of global emissions. While sectors like steel, cement, aluminum, and chemicals face unique hurdles from process-based emissions and the economic strain of retiring 15 trillion yuan in coal assets, major producers such as Baosteel and Anhui Conch are already piloting advanced low-carbon technologies to meet projected 2027 emission peaks. The government anticipates a 2030 emissions intensity reduction of over 30% through renewable integration and efficiency upgrades, with post-2030 net-zero success dependent on scaling unproven innovations like hydrogen, carbon capture, and grid modernization to transition away from coal.
- Goldman Sachs7 min
Arriving Now: Retailers’ Solutions for Same Day Delivery
Goldman Sachs Research analyzes how pandemic-driven shifts transformed last-mile delivery from a niche restaurant service into a dominant omnichannel strategy leveraging physical inventory for two-hour windows. The report highlights a critical trade-off where retailers balance the profitability and operational efficiency of outsourcing to third-party platforms like Shipt and Instacart against the risks of quality control and data leakage. Ultimately, the convergence of free curbside pickup and paid home delivery is identified as a competitive moat that increases consumer engagement beyond what online-only models can achieve.