Morgan Stanley stock trends higher on Q4 earnings beat

Morgan Stanley shares rise following its latest earnings beat as Big Bank stocks continue to report earnings.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: I also want to take a look at Morgan Stanley because Dave, you mentioned it there. And the numbers really do tell a different story because the bank beat estimates on both the top and bottom line, revenue coming in at $12.75 billion, down nearly $2 billion from a year go, above the Wall Street expectations.

Their wealth management division, that's what standing out to me just in terms of the rising rate environment that really boosted net interest income for the quarter there for Morgan Stanley. Offset the drop that we saw in deal making. You mentioned the massive drop that we've seen in M&A across the board. And CEO James Gorman, he was relatively upbeat, especially when you compare it to what we've heard from many of his peers.

DAVE BRIGGS: Oh, I thought it was astounding. When I read the words from their CEO, it almost like felt the sun came out because we've heard nothing, but mild recession predictions from every big bank CEO. And here it is from Gorman. We're not of the view that we're heading into a dark period. Whatever negativity in the world is out there, that's not our house view, so we want to make sure we're positioned for growth. He even talked about, again, M&A activity picking up in 2023 because theirs was down 48%, 49%, just the same as Goldman was.

Sure was nice to hear some optimism from a big bank CEO because they have such great visibility to the consumer. But Wealth Management being the key difference between Morgan Stanley, one of the biggest gainers on the S&P, and Goldman Sachs, one of the biggest losers on the day on the S&P.

SEANA SMITH: Certainly, UBS was out with a note saying that the fourth quarter results from Morgan Stanley, they were encouraging. And I think that's important to point out, especially when you take a look at some of these other numbers within that report. You mentioned the drop that we've seen in investment banking across the sector revenue from investment banking for Morgan Stanley was off nearly 50%. Investment Management arm revenue there, down 17% to 1.46 billion. But still, of its major competitors out there, Morgan Stanley definitely winning the prize here for most upbeat outlook heading into the rest of the year.

DAVE BRIGGS: Yeah, they were definitely positioned well.