The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) Options Positioning, Max Pain & Unusual Sweeps

Per the Roarable RQD rating, GS carries an RQD Score of 50 and a letter grade of D, with the verdict "Roarable Sell — Underperform / Distribution Warning." The five pillars are:

• Fundamental Cash Engine: 7 / 20. The pillar notes ROIC of 17.1% alongside a free cash flow yield of -15.94%. For a prospective investor, the profitability figure is strong while the cash-generation figure is negative, a split that weighs heavily on this pillar.
• Whale 13F Flow: 14 / 20. Institutional accumulation and options positioning contribute moderately. The holders section includes one large 13F buy by Citadel Advisors (Ken Griffin), which supports this pillar.
• Insider Conviction: 11 / 20. SEC Form 4 and Congressional PTR flow scores below midpoint. The insider section shows predominantly sell-side transactions.
• Macro Regime Fit: 3 / 20. Beta of 1.21 and sector sensitivity place this pillar at its lowest level, implying that macro conditions weigh unfavorably on the stock relative to its peers.
• Forensic Balance Sheet: 15 / 20. Altman Z of 0.32, Piotroski F of 4/9, and Debt/Equity of 3.57 combine to produce a moderate score, with the balance sheet metrics flagging elevated leverage and financial-distress risk.

For a prospective investor evaluating the stock today, the rating points to a clear tradeoff: a high ROIC and a 12.4 trailing P/E sit against a deeply negative FCF yield, a weak macro-fit score, and multiple forensic warnings. The overall verdict is a distribution warning rather than an endorsement.

Per the Roarable profile, Goldman Sachs operates in the Financials sector, Global Banking, Institutional Markets & Wealth Management industry, listed on the NYSE. The company is described as a premier global investment banking, FICC/Equities market-making, prime brokerage, and alternative asset and ultra-high-net-worth wealth management franchise with $3.1T+ in assets under supervision. Per the Butterfly Supply-Chain Graph, its principal customers include corporate M&A boards, IPO issuers and private equity sponsors (26% revenue exposure), and hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds and institutional asset owners (62% revenue exposure). Its revenue lines include M&A advisory and underwriting fees, prime brokerage financing, FICC and equities execution, and alternatives.

Per the SEC financials, quarterly revenue rose from $13454.0M in Q4 2025 to $20338.0M in Q2 2026, and net income rose over the same span. Per the market data, operating margin is 39.7% and net margin is 31.7%, while gross margin is reported as 0%. ROIC is 17.1%. Per the Roarable RQD rating, the Altman Z-Score is 0.32 and the Piotroski F-Score is 4/9, both of which flag financial-distress and weak-quality concerns. Debt rose from $349299.0M to $437874.0M across the four periods, and Debt/Equity is 3.57 per the RQD forensic pillar. Free cash flow was negative in Q1 2026 and Q4 2025 and is -15.94% as a yield per the market data.

Per the recent news feed, six headlines cover GS. Three are marked YELLOW (market wire) items on the stock's flat-to-earnings positioning and CEO succession commentary. One is marked GREEN (catalyst) and cites an earnings beat and a changing bull case. One is marked RED (risk watch) and reports a falling share price on a Wednesday session. One further YELLOW item questions the firm's global IPO underwriting position.

Per the Butterfly graph, the proprietary CEO_EVASION signal carries a WSG CEO Truth-Score of 63%, a severity score of 68, and a BEARISH direction. The forensic brief attributes this to two disclosure hedges and two critical 10-K risk additions, alongside $11.4M in insider Form 4 dispositions within 30 days.

Per the Butterfly graph, GS depends critically on two suppliers. CME Group, ICE and DTCC clearing infrastructure (35% revenue exposure) supports derivatives clearing and repo settlement. AWS Financial Cloud and the Legend data platform (14% exposure, HIGH criticality) support low-latency risk analytics. A disruption in either would ripple into execution, settlement and risk operations.

On the competitive side, the graph names JPMorgan Chase (88% exposure), Morgan Stanley (90%) and Blackstone/Apollo (30%) as competitors. Because the two largest peers carry comparable exposure concentrations, pressure in league-table fee pools or prime brokerage would likely affect several firms at once. The graph lists no butterfly links, so no direct cross-company propagation path is recorded in the source data.

Per the analyst data, 11 analysts rate the stock Buy, 15 Hold, and 0 Sell, with 6 Strong Buy and 1 Strong Sell recorded. The consensus target mean is $1013.4, the median is $1022.88, the low target is $905.69 and the high is $1098.92. The implied upside is 13.29%, and the Street B/S score is 58.

Per the analyst log, recent calls include a Piper Sandler / MoffettNathanson downgrade to Underperform (Jan 23, 2026) and an Evercore ISI reiteration of Strong Buy (Jul 31, 2026) with a subsequent return of -12.16% since call.

Per the holders data, insider Form 4 sales by Leslie Ericka T (multiple filings, Jul–Oct 2026) and David M. Solomon (12,000 shares at $910.72, filed 2026-10-27, $10928640 total value) are recorded. A 13F buy by Citadel Advisors (Ken Griffin) of 285,000 shares at $1021 ($290985000) was filed 2026-07-23. A Congressional PTR sale by Rep. Mark Green of 650 shares at $923.71 ($600411.5) was filed 2026-05-22.

• What is driving the -15.94% FCF yield given the reported quarterly operating and net income, and how do the negative FCF quarters reconcile with reported cash balances?
• What specific disclosure hedges and risk additions underlie the CEO Truth-Score of 63%, and what do they say about guidance?
• How does the Altman Z-Score of 0.32 square with a 12.4 trailing P/E and an ROIC of 17.1%?
• What drove the sharp difference between the 52-week low of $277.84 and high of $1153.99, and what is the current share count behind the market cap?
• How much of the sell-side price-target dispersion reflects differing views on the CEO succession and IPO underwriting narratives?