The German giant saw second quarter net profit come in at $818 million.
That's not far off double analyst estimates.
It also marked a fourth straight quarterly profit - the bank's longest run in the black since 2012.
A pocket of strength for the bank was its advisory business, amid a boom in dealmaking.
Revenue for that unit surged 166%.
Provisions for credit losses connected to the health crisis also sharply declined.
It's all good news for Chief Executive Christian Sewing, who is two years into a major restructuring plan.
He says the priority now is to continue with disciplined execution of the plan.
There was an even brighter picture over at Barclays.
The UK lender saw first-half profits nearly quadruple to almost $7 billion.
It was boosted by bumper investment banking fees as the health crisis led to volatile markets and frenzied trading.
Barclays was also boosted by the release of cash set aside to cover crisis-related bad loan charges.
Shares in the firm rose as much as 5% from the open on Wednesday.
Deutsche Bank, meanwhile, gained 2.5% in early trades, before falling back. .
