Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) gained ground early on Thursday, after announcing it had posted third-quarter profit and revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations on better-than-anticipated results in trading and advisory businesses.
The bank said profits rose 2.3% to $2.17 billion in the quarter, or $1.27 per share, compared with $1.11 per share which analysts expected.
Earnings proved $1.11 a share, 5% lower than a year earlier. Wealth management: $4.39 billion. Trading in equities registered at $2.1 billion, while fixed income came in at $1.11 billion.
The company produced $10.1 billion in revenue, a surprise increase amid a difficult quarter for other Wall Street firms, exceeding analysts’ average estimate by roughly $500 million. Morgan Stanley called it the best third quarter for revenue in a decade.
CEO James Gorman has helped to diversify Morgan Stanley away from trading and advisory businesses with his emphasis on wealth management, but the bank still has sizable Wall Street operations. That fact made analysts’ wary on the firm’s results in the quarter, as mixed conditions on Wall Street impacted rivals including Goldman Sachs.
Investment bankers also contributed to the results: They posted $1.54 billion in revenue, a 5% increase from a year earlier and $120 million more than analysts had expected. That result looks more favorable after Goldman’s investment bankers posted a 15% decline in fees for the quarter.
Morgan Stanley is the last of the big six banks to report earnings.
Lenders with large retail operations generally outperformed in the quarter, led by J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America.
Shares increased in price $1.13, or 2.6%, to $43.94.
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