Morgan Stanley (MS) Q4 earnings beat the average analyst estimate, helped by solid revenue growth from its wealth management and investment management units, both from the prior and year-ago quarters. In institutional securities, investment banking revenue jumped 47% Y/Y.
Q4 GAAP EPS of $2.68, topping the average analyst estimate of $2.42, fell from $2.80 in Q3 and rose from $2.22 in Q4 2024.
Net revenue of $17.9B, exceeding the $17.8B consensus, dropped from $18.2B in the prior quarter and grew from $16.2B a year ago.
Morgan Stanley’s (MS) net interest income of $2.86B, vs. the Visible Alpha consensus of $2.53B, increased from $2.49B in Q3 and $2.55B in the prior year’s Q4.
Pretax profit margin of 32% vs. 33% in the previous quarter and 30% a year ago. Compensation and benefits, as a percentage of net revenue, were 39%, compared with 41% in Q3 and 39% in the year-ago Q4.
Total non-compensation expenses were $5.05B vs. $4.75B in the prior quarter and $4.91B a year ago.
Provision for credit losses of $18M, vs. $88.3M Visible Alpha consensus, rose from $0M in the previous quarter and fell from $115M a year ago.
Return on average tangible common equity of 21.8% vs. 23.5% in Q3 and 20.2% in Q4 2024.
Morgan Stanley (MS) stock edged up 0.1% in Thursday premarket trading.
Revenue by segment:
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Institutional Securities: $7.93B dipped 7% Q/Q and increased 9% Y/Y; investment banking revenue of $2.41B increased 14% Q/Q and 47% Y/Y. Equity net revenue of $3.67B dropped 11% Q/Q and rose 10% Y/Y, and fixed income net revenue of $1.76B fell 19% Q/Q and 9% Y/Y.
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Wealth Management: $8.43B, up 2% Q/Q and 13% Y/Y. Asset management revenue of $5.03B climbed 5% Q/Q and 14% Y/Y. Total client assets of $7.38T grew 5% Q/Q and 19% Y/Y.
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Investment Management: $1.72B grew 4% Q/Q and 5% Y/Y. Asset management and related fees of $1.65B rose 7% Q/Q and 6% Y/Y. Long-term net inflows were $1.7B in Q4 2025, down from $16.5B in Q3 and $4.3B in Q4 2024. Long-term assets under management or supervision of $1.25T rose 1% Q/Q and 14% Y/Y.
Conference call at 8:30 AM ET.
Earlier, Morgan Stanley GAAP EPS of $2.68 beats by $0.23, revenue of $17.89B beats by $140M