Morgan Stanley’s quarterly profit rose 61.7% to $1.52 billion from $939 million for the quarter ended September 30, while earnings per shares rose to 81 cents from 48 cents.
Earnings per share from continuing operations was 80 cents, far above the average analyst estimate of 63 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.
Adjusted revenue from sales and trading of fixed-income securities and commodities more than doubled to $1.5 billion, boosting total revenue by 14.7% to $8.91 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $8.17 billion.
Morgan Stanley wraps up a surprisingly strong quarter for big U.S. banks. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley’s closest rival, reported a stronger-than-expected 58% rise in third-quarter profit on Tuesday, driven by a 34% rise in revenue from trading bonds, currencies and commodities.
James Gorman
Chief Executive James Gorman said in a statement:
This quarter we saw record revenues in wealth management and a strong performance in our sales and trading business.”
The bank’s compensation costs rose 19.2 percent to $4.10 billion in the quarter, while non-compensation costs fell 14.9 percent to $2.43 billion.
Morgan Stanley ranked third to Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co in M&A fees collected during the quarter and fourth behind and JPMorgan, Bank of America Corp and Goldman in fees from investment banking, which includes equity and debt underwriting, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Up to Tuesday’s close, Morgan Stanley’s shares had risen 1.6% since the start of the year, outperforming those of Goldman Sachs, which fell 4.2%.