Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley (MS) has posted third-quarter financial results that blew past analysts’ expectations.
The bank announced earnings per share (EPS) of $2.80 U.S., which was well ahead of the $2.10 U.S. consensus estimate. The profit was up 45% from a year ago.
Revenue in the July through September period totaled a record $18.22 billion U.S., which topped forecasts that called for $16.70 billion U.S. Sales were up 18% from a year earlier.
The top and bottom-line beats were the largest by Morgan Stanley in five years.
Management said booming trading activity and a resurgence of investment banking drove the strong Q3 results.
Morgan Stanley’s giant wealth management division also performed well with stocks near record highs.
Morgan Stanley is the latest Wall Street firm to top estimates for its Q3 results, following strong performances by JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Wells Fargo (WFC).
MS stock has gained 25% this year to trade at $155.34 U.S. per share.
