Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) reported record net income and revenues for the first quarter as the bank's equity trading unit navigated renewed financial market volatility even better than competitors like Goldman Sachs.
The bank's top and bottom line blew past Wall Street expectations. Its shares rose $1.03, or 1.9%, to $54.27, in the early portion of Wednesday's session, following the results.
Earnings per Share came in at $1.45 per share vs. $1.25 expected by Thomson Reuters. Revenue was $11.1 billion vs. $10.363 billion expected
Wealth management: $4.4 billion vs. $4.5 billion expected by StreetAccount.
Fixed income, commodities and currencies trading: $1.9 billion vs. $1.67 billion expected. Equities trading: $2.6 billion vs. $2.24 billion expected
The bank's net income rose to $2.7 billion for the quarter, up more than 40% year-over-year.
Morgan Stanley's equity trading revenue increased to $2.6 billion in the period, up 30% from a year ago. The bank said it benefited from "higher levels of client activity" during the quarter. In comparison, Goldman Sachs posted equity trading sales of $2.31 billion for the first quarter.
The company's fixed income, commodities and currencies trading sales rose 12% during the quarter, which is a dramatic improvement from the 46% revenue decline in its fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley's asset management revenues increased to $626 million from $517 million last year.
Other major U.S. banks posted solid results this earnings season, but not as strong as Morgan Stanley.
