Morgan Stanley reported third-quarter net revenues of $20.3B on Oct. 14, up 12% from $18.2B a year earlier.
Earnings came in at $3.03 per diluted share, above the $2.94 consensus, with revenue topping the $20.0B estimate. Net income reached $4.9B versus $4.6B.
Stock trading did the heavy lifting. Equity revenue jumped 41% to $5.8B on prime brokerage, derivatives, and cash activity, helped by client demand in Asia.
Wealth management set records across the board
The wealth arm delivered record net revenues of $9.1B and a 30.4% pre-tax margin. Net new assets, the money clients hand over minus what they pull out, hit $232.4B against $81.0B a year ago.
Just over half of those inflows came from IPO-related activity, and nearly half of the record $80B in fee-based flows traced to a single corporate retirement mandate. Total client assets climbed almost $400B to $10.5T.
Not every desk cooperated. Fixed income trading fell 7% to $2.0B on weaker credit and commodities, while investment management slid 12% to $1.5B after a reversal of accrued carried interest in one private fund.
Investment banking edged up 2% to $2.2B, led by $887M in advisory fees as completed M&A deals in the Americas picked up.
Morgan Stanley Q3 2026 by Business
As of Oct. 14, 2026 (US dollars)
| Business | Q3 2026 revenue | Q3 2025 revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Wealth Management | $9.1B | $8.2B |
| Equity | $5.8B | $4.12B |
| Investment Banking | $2.16B | $2.11B |
| Fixed Income | $2.01B | $2.17B |
| Investment Management | $1.46B | $1.65B |
September cooled off after a hot summer
Activity ran strong in July and August, supported by AI-related capital spending, then slowed in September as Middle East tensions and higher global rates weighed on markets.
Management said sponsor-backed exits remain delayed, with strategic corporate deals leading the cycle instead. Chief financial officer Sharon Yeshaya described banking pipelines as "robust and diversified."
Deposits reached $465B and net interest income was $2.2B, with a modest fourth-quarter increase expected. On artificial intelligence, Pick said hyperscaler spending runs near $1T annually and that the firm is "double overweight" on the opportunity.
Capital returns kept flowing. The firm repurchased $1.54B of common stock during the quarter and declared a dividend of $1.15 per share, payable Nov. 13.
Its standardized common equity tier 1 ratio, a measure of loss-absorbing capital, stood at 14.9%, roughly 300 basis points above requirements. Return on tangible common equity was 22.6%, down from 23.5% a year ago.
Management flagged geopolitical conflict, higher rates, and elevated asset prices as the main risks heading into the fourth quarter.
