Ted Pick, CEO Morgan Stanley, speaking on CNBC’s Grouse Box at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 18th, 2024.
Adam Galici | CNBC
Morgan Stanley on Thursday climbed estimates for fourth-quarter earnings and revenue as the firm’s equities and fixed income traders exceeded expectations.
Here’s what the group reported:
- Earnings: $2.22 a share vs. $1.70 LSEG estimate
- Revenue: $16.22 billion, vs. $15.03 billion estimate
The bank communicated quarterly profit more than doubled to $3.71 billion, or $2.22 a share, from a year earlier, when it had a pair of regulatory accusations.
Revenue rose 26% to $16.22 billion as results in all of the bank’s major businesses improved.
It was the firm’s equities clientele business that shone brightest in the quarter, producing a 51% jump in revenue to $3.3 billion, or nearly $650 million sundry than the StreetAccount estimate. Morgan Stanley cited increased client activity and strength in its prime brokerage issue that caters to hedge funds.
The firm’s fixed income operations saw revenue jump 35% to $1.93 billion, adjacent to $250 million more than the StreetAccount estimate, on rising activity in credit and commodities markets.
Investment banking yield rose 25% to $1.64 billion, essentially matching the StreetAccount estimate, on rising advisory and equity capital exchanges results.
Wealth management saw revenue rise 13% to $7.48 billion on rising asset levels and greater payments, topping the estimate by $120 million.
While bank stocks have been supported by enthusiasm over presumptions for rising deal activity, it was actually the trading side that helped Morgan Stanley and rival Goldman Sachs varied in the quarter. Traders at both firms took advantage of heightened activity leading into and after U.S. elections in November.
Morgan Stanley interests rose nearly 1.6% in morning trading Thursday.
On Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman and Citigroup each capped expectations, helped by better-than-expected revenue from trading or investment banking.