Morgan Stanley Shares Rise On Earnings Beat

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Morgan Stanley released its latest earnings results before opening bell this morning, posting earnings of 81 cents per share on $9 billion in revenue. Analysts were expecting earnings of 35 cents per share on $8.47 billion in revenue. In last year’s fourth quarter, the firm reported $7.7 billion in revenue and 39 cents per share in earnings.

Morgan Stanley posts solid results across segments

Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities revenues rose to $4.6 billion in the fourth quarter from $3.4 billion in the year-ago quarter as Sales and Trading posted strong results and the firm continued seeing strength in M&A advisory. Pre-tax income from the segment surged to $1.3 billion from $548 million in the year-ago quarter. Sales and Trading revenues rose to $2 billion from $1.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015. Fixed Income sales and trading revenues rose to $1.5 billion from $550 million.

Wealth Management revenues amounted to $4 billion, with fee-based asset flows of $17.1 billion. In the year-ago quarter, the segment’s revenue amounted to $3.8 billion. Asset management fee revenues rose to $2.2 billion from $2.1 billion in the previous year, while transactional revenues fell to $774 million from $861 million in the year-ago quarter.  Client assets amounted to $2.1 trillion, with $877 billion in fee-based client accounts.

Investment Management revenues declined to $500 million with $417 billion in assets under management or supervision. In the year-ago quarter, the segment reported $621 million in revenues. The firm cited $60 million in losses on sales and markdowns of legacy LP investments in third-party sponsored funds.

Morgan Stanley optimistic about 2017

“Our quarterly results reflect consistent strong performance, while our annual results show meaningful earnings growth over 2015,” said Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO James Gorman in a statement. “We reported solid results in Sales & Trading and Advisory, and record revenues in Wealth Management, while managing expenses prudently. We are optimistic about opportunities in 2017 and beyond and remain focused on serving our clients and achieving our strategic objectives.”

Shares of Morgan Stanley rose by as much as 0.75% to $44.14 in premarket trading this morning.

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