Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs crushed earnings and revenue forecasts in its first-quarter financial results, released April 16. While analysts estimated adjusted earnings per common share of just $3.87 for the quarter, the bank posted $4.29, and revenue came in at $10.09 billion, beating estimates of $9.65 billion. All in all, the annualized return on average common shareholder’s equity was a full 12.4 percent for the first quarter.

Much of the success was driven by the firm’s investment banking unit, as well as its investing and lending unit. Year-to-date, Goldman Sachs ranks first worldwide in completed mergers and acquisitions among all investment banks. It also ranks first worldwide in equity and equity-related offerings, common stock offerings and initial public offerings. The firm’s debt underwriting produced record quarterly revenue of $694 million.

“We are pleased with our performance for the quarter,” said Lloyd C. Blankfein, Goldman’s chairman and chief executive officer, in a press release.

Like most banks, Goldman has benefited from continued improvement in global markets and economies. Its first-quarter earnings were up 9 percent per share from one year ago. Likewise, the firm’s investing and lending operations posted revenue of $2.07 billion—up 8 percent from the same period in 2012. According to Goldman, the division benefited from both an increase in equity prices and a $24 million gain from its stake in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China—an investment it made it 2006.

Our strong client franchise across our businesses drove generally solid results. Still, the potential for macroeconomic instability was felt in the quarter and constrained overall corporate and investor activity. We continue to be very focused on controlling our costs and efficiently managing our capital,” Blankfein said.

More impressive even, revenue from Goldman’s investment banking division increased 36 percent to $1.57 billion. But not all units increased. Net revenue in Goldman’s division that trades bonds, currencies and commodities fell 7 percent from one year ago to $3.2 billion. According to the firm, the lower revenues in the unit primarily reflect “significantly lower net revenues in interest rate products compared with a strong first-quarter of 2012.”

Meanwhile, client trading revenue fell 10 percent to $5.14 billion, although it still accounted for almost half of the firm’s total revenue.

Goldman has done an excellent job of investing its own capital in recent quarters, helping it beat analysts’ expectations—after such investing led to its second-ever loss as a public company in the third quarter of 2011. It has also worked diligently to cut expenses. With 32,000 employees at the end of the first quarter, Goldman employed 400 fewer people than at the end of 2012—a significant savings for a company that set aside 43 percent of its revenue to pay employees.

All in all, Goldman’s strategies are finding continued success. Its annualized return on equity, a key financial measure watched closely by investors, wa up from 12.2 percent on year ago—but still well below its 30-percent levels before the financial crisis. But its average daily value at risk—a measure of the maximum that Goldman could lose on 95 percent of trading days—was just $76 million during the first quarter, down from $95 million one year ago.