Banking, finance, and taxes

How Morgan Stanley Won Big in Q4

Chris Lange

Published: January 16, 2020 9:45 am

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 11:08 am

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) released its fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday. The investment bank said that it had $1.30 in earnings per share (EPS) and $10.86 billion in revenue, which topped consensus estimates of $0.99 in EPS and revenue of $9.72 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.80 on $8.55 billion in revenue.

In terms of its business segments, Morgan Stanley reported as follows:

• Investment Banking revenues increased 14% year over year to $1.70 billion.
• Trading revenue increased 33% to $2.31 billion.
• Investments revenue was $739 million.
• Commissions and Fees decreased by 6% to $984 million.
• Asset Management revenue increased 6% to $3.45 billion.
• Other revenue was $240 million.

For the quarter, book value per share was $45.82 and tangible book value per share was $40.01.

James P. Gorman, board chair and chief executive, commented:

We delivered strong quarterly earnings across all of our businesses. Firmwide revenues were over $10 billion for the fourth consecutive quarter, resulting in record full year revenues and net income. This consistent performance met all of our stated performance targets.

Shares of Morgan Stanley traded up almost 7% early Thursday at $56.54, in a new 52-week range of $38.76 to $56.90. The consensus price target is $57.35.