Morgan Stanley Quarterly Profit Climbs 51%
21 January 2021 - 12:27AM
Dow Jones News
By Peter Rudegeair
Morgan Stanley said Wednesday that fourth-quarter profit rose
51% from a year earlier, another big U.S. bank to emerge from a
turbulent year in better shape than was expected at the onset of
the coronavirus pandemic.
The New York-based firm reported a profit of $3.39 billion, or
$1.81 a share, on revenue of $13.64 billion. That beat the
consensus estimates of analysts polled by FactSet, who predicted
per-share earnings of $1.30 on revenue of $11.58 billion.
Morgan Stanley rounded out fourth-quarter earnings reports from
the nation's big banks, which continued to benefit from a recovery
on Wall Street and federal pandemic-response measures that
forestalled the worst-case economic scenario. On Tuesday, rival
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported a fourth-quarter profit that was
more than twice as large as year-earlier results and annual revenue
that was at an 11-year high.
With its focus on wealthy Americans and big corporations and
money managers, Morgan Stanley is less exposed to mass unemployment
and small-business closures than more Main Street banks.
Stock- and bond-trading revenue at Morgan Stanley rose 32% to
$4.22 billion. Fees from advising on deals and underwriting stock
and bond offerings increased 46% to $2.30 billion.
Among the biggest U.S. banks, Morgan Stanley has been the most
active in remaking itself through deals over the past year. Its
acquisition of E*Trade Financial Corp., which closed during the
fourth quarter, enabled the bank to take advantage of a boom in
retail trading. In October, Morgan Stanley announced it was
purchasing investment manager Eaton Vance Corp. for $7 billion, a
deal that's expected to close later this year.
Write to Peter Rudegeair at Peter.Rudegeair@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 20, 2021 08:12 ET (13:12 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024