Wall Street profits climb 31% in the first half of 2025

Wall Street firms have been racking up profits despite the market turbulence caused by uncertainty about the U.S. economy and President Donald Trump’s embrace of tariffs on imported goods.

The pre-tax profits of securities firms in New York City rose nearly 31% in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2024. The increase was fueled primarily by trading activity, state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli reported Thursday.

Profits for the January-through-June period totaled $30.4 billion and may end the year above $60 billion. They totaled $23.2 billion for the first half of last year, according to the report from DiNapoli’s office.

The profits of broker/dealer firms help to determine the year-end bonuses paid to their employees, more than 14,300 of whom commute from Long Island, the report states. Spending by bonus recipients is a key driver of Nassau County’s economy and East End real estate.

The bonuses and high salaries paid to these commuters, together with that of the more than 7,000 people who work at securities firms in Nassau and Suffolk counties, “fuels the local economy, [generating] sales tax revenue and supporting local retailers and other businesses,” DiNapoli said, responding to a Newsday question during a news conference.

In addition, income taxes on the bonuses represent 19% of the state’s total tax collections, or $22 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31, he said.

DiNapoli was cautiously optimistic that the report’s prediction of record year-end profits at securities firms and higher employee bonuses would come true.

“Barring some geopolitical blow up, barring a pronouncement from Washington that will set the economy in the wrong direction, barring a federal shutdown that doesn’t end [soon], I think there’s a very strong probability that this will be, if not a record year, a near-record year in terms of profits, and that certainly will spill over into an enhanced bonus pool.”

Separately, two economists said there are headwinds that could unravel the comptroller’s prediction.

“Many stocks are richly valued now, inflation remains a difficult challenge and the labor market overall is showing signs of softening,” said John A. Rizzo, a Stony Brook University professor. “In such an environment, it seems unlikely that these profits will persist.”

Steven Kent, chief economist for the Long Island Association business group, said the October-December period is critical. 

“Things could go the wrong direction,” he said, citing his 30 years on Wall Street as a financial analyst for the investment bank Goldman Sachs. “That bonus may not come through if the fourth quarter doesn’t come through. It’s that volatile of a business,” he said in an interview.

The pre-tax profit data released on Thursday covers 130 stock brokerages that are members of the New York Stock Exchange. The profits are derived from securities trading, supervisory fees and underwriting.

Revenue from trading in the first six months of the year rose 73.4% compared with the same period in 2024, according to the comptroller’s report.

The securities industry in New York City employed 201,500 people last year, the most since 2000. About 7% of those workers were Long Islanders, while 17% came from New Jersey, 4% from Westchester County and 4% from Connecticut, states the report.

The city accounted for 93% of the 217,800 securities jobs in the state — and New York remains the industry’s capital.

But DiNapoli said Florida, Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania and other rivals are all adding jobs. New York City is home to 17.4% of the industry’s jobs, down from one third in 1990.

In terms of 2024 salaries, securities firms in Suffolk County paid their employees an average of $748,130 including bonus payments, or 38.7% more than the previous year. That was the industry’s highest average compensation in the country, driven by the double-digit returns of Renaissance Technologies and other hedge funds based in the county, said DiNapoli of Great Neck Plaza.

Islandwide, industry salaries, including bonus payments, were $497,410 on average, and in New York City, $505,630, based on the report.