Morgan Stanley Q3 2017 Earnings Beat Boosts Shares

Morgan Stanley (MS) Q3 2017 earnings were released before opening bell this morning. The firm reported earnings of 93 cents per share on $9.2 billion in revenue, compared to the consensus estimates of 81 cents per share on $9 billion in revenue. In the year-ago quarter, the firm reported earnings of 81 cents per share on $8.9 billion in revenue.

“Our third quarter results reflected the stability our Wealth Management, Investment Banking and Investment Management businesses bring when our Sales and Trading business faces a subdued environment,” CEO James Gorman said in a statement with the Morgan Stanley Q3 2017 earnings release. “Our balanced business model and the consistent performance of our franchise enabled us to deliver solid returns for our shareholders.”

Institutional Securities revenues fell to $4.4 billion from $4.55 billion last year. The firm’s investment banking revenues rose to $1.3 billion from $1.1 billion a year ago. Equity underwriting revenue rose from $236 million last year to $273 million this year. Sales and trading revenues fell to $2.9 billion from $3.2 billion last year. Equity sales and trading revenues were flat at $2.9 billion, while fixed income trading revenues declined to $1.2 billion from $1.5 billion in the year-ago quarter, but that was still a little better than what Wall Street had been expecting.

Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management revenue ticked higher to $4.22 billion from $3.9 billion last year. Analysts had been expecting wealth management revenue of $4.21 billion. Asset management fee revenues rose to $2.4 billion from $2.1 billion last year, while transactional revenues fell to $739 million from $791 million last year. Net interest income rose to $1 billion from $885 million last year. Total client assets amounted to $2.3 trillion, while client assets in fee-based accounts were $1 trillion as of the end of the quarter.

Investment Management revenues increased to $675 million from $552 million in the year-ago quarter. Asset management fee revenues rose to $568 million from $508 million last year.