Deutsche Bank, Barclays cash in on US IPO boom

Germany's Deutsche Bank AG and UK group Barclays PLC outshined US-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. and major European peers in second-quarter advisory and underwriting revenue growth.

Revenue was primarily driven by a surge in equity capital markets (ECM) underwriting, with both banks taking advantage of big IPOs, primarily in the US, executives said on recent earnings calls.

Deutsche Bank logged a 36.4% year-over-year growth in revenue generated from deal advisory and capital markets underwriting for the second quarter, Visible Alpha data shows, while Barclays booked a 31.5% rise.

The gains at both banks were stronger than the 30.4% increase posted by JPMorgan and were also well above the single-digit revenue growth rates posted by European peers Société Générale SA, UBS Group AG and BNP Paribas SA.

HSBC Holdings PLC posted a revenue decline, while US groups Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. booked the strongest year-over-year growth rates in advisory and underwriting revenue for the second quarter.

ECM was the key driver of revenue growth at all banks that reported results by business, the data shows. Deutsche Bank logged the highest increase in ECM revenue of about 148% year over year, and Barclays posted the third-highest at 93.8%.

Deutsche Bank had mandates in big global and US-based IPOs in the quarter, which is positive for the group because it draws investors' attention in Europe too, CEO Christian Sewing said during a July 29 earnings call. The bank was able to raise its market share in investment banking and capital markets (IBCM) in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the CEO said.

The gains in ECM and advisory revenue are the result of the strategic rebalancing in Deutsche Bank's IBCM business, group CFO Raja Akram said during the call. The IBCM pipeline for the second half of 2026 "points to further significant year-on-year revenue growth," Akram said.

Barclays participated in nine of the top 10 global ECM deals in the second quarter, and the IPO pipeline for the second half of 2026 remains strong, group CFO Anna Cross said during a July 28 earnings call.

The UK-based group also benefited from a growing advisory wallet, with the pipeline of M&A deals due to complete in 2026 increasing year over year, Cross said. About 70% of advisory and ECM fees were earned in the US, Cross said.

– Access the advisory and underwriting summaries of Deutsche Bank, Barclays and UBS. – Explore M&A, ECM and DCM transaction statistics via the Screener tool.

Deutsche Bank and Barclays have been restructuring their investment banks in recent years with the aim of reducing capital consumption and boosting returns. Both have been focused on raising the share of advisory and underwriting in their revenue mix as these are capital-light, fee-generating businesses.

Visible Alpha consensus estimates point to year-over-year growth in ECM and advisory revenue for both Deutsche Bank and Barclays in the third quarter of 2026. Quarter-over-quarter performance would be mixed, with both banks projected to book lower ECM revenue in the third quarter versus the second.

In advisory, Deutsche Bank is expected to post lower revenue quarter over quarter, while Barclays is forecast to book a revenue gain.

Overall, all European investment banks excluding UBS are expected to book year-over-year growth in advisory and capital markets revenue for the third quarter, the data shows.

While UBS' ECM and debt capital markets (DCM) revenue grew in the second quarter, advisory revenue came in lower year over year. This was mainly due to a shift to a small number of big-ticket deals in the M&A market "where participation is often influenced by broader client financing relationships," CFO Todd Tuckner said during the Swiss group's earnings call on July 29.

"Looking ahead, our pipeline remains healthy with strong client engagement and activity building across regions ... Beyond the very largest deals, we continue to see good momentum across the broader advisory market," Tuckner said.

The big US investment banks tied their strong equity underwriting results to high-profile mandates, including Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s $75 billion IPO. All five banks were underwriters on the deal.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley each received $100 million in underwriting fees from the SpaceX IPO, while Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan each received $75 million.

Visible Alpha is a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.