MS US S&P 500Russell 1000 Earnings call
Morgan Stanley (MS) · Q2 2026 results and valuation
Share price: $190.61 · 2026-11-11
Morgan Stanley is an American investment bank and financial services company. It provides financial services to clients in 42 countries and operates in various global financial centers. Source: Wikipedia
Results Q2 2026 vs Q1 2026 · previous quarter · published 15 Jul 2026 and 15 Apr 2026
Net income flat on the previous quarter. Management sounded very upbeat, though noticeably less so answering analysts.
1 · Numbers
+0.3%
Net income vs Q1 2026
Outlook given
Net income 5.58B vs 5.57B
Revenue +3.7%
Why Against the same quarter last year, net income rose primarily because investment banking revenues increased 58% due to strength across products, while record revenues across all products and regions, including asset management and prime brokerage, contributed to the record bottom-line results.
2 · How management spoke
Very upbeat
More upbeat than 95% of company calls
Answers to analysts: restrained, but clearly less so than the script.
The step down under questioning is bigger than last call.
3 · What stood out
Morgan Stanley's Wealth Management segment added a record $148 billion in organic net new assets, driven by large IPOs of late-stage private workplace clients.
Valuation
Is Morgan Stanley undervalued?
Reverse DCF on net income from the last full fiscal year (no meaningful free cash flow: a bank, insurer or a year of negative cash flow) (2025-12-31), grown for 10 years, discounted back, plus a terminal value. “Implied growth” is the rate the current price assumes.
At 9.6% growth a year (3-year revenue growth), the model's fair value is $237.65 a share — the stock trades 20% below it. Today's price assumes 6.6% growth a year.
Current price
$190.61
close of 2026-11-11
Market implies growth of iThe yearly free-cash-flow growth, for the next 10 years, that today’s share price already assumes. If you believe the company grows faster than this, the stock is cheap under this model; slower, and it is expensive.
+6.6% for 10 yrs
Fair value / share
$237.65
Buy below
$178.24
Price vs fair value
Undervalued 20%
Price vs buy-below price
Overvalued 7%
Read between the lines
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Figure
Morgan Stanley reported second-quarter revenues exceeding $21 billion and EPS of $3.46, marking a record result and an exceptional first half for 2026.
Source quote
“In the second quarter, Morgan Stanley again delivered top-line and bottom-line record results, with revenues exceeding $21 billion and EPS of $3.46, marking an exceptional first half for 2026.”
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Figure
The business generated a record $8.9 billion in revenues while total client assets reached $8 trillion.
Source quote
“The business generated a record of $8.9 billion in revenues, and total client assets stand at $8 trillion.”
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Figure
Investment banking revenues reached $2.4 billion, a 58% increase from the prior year due to momentum in capital raising and strategic activity.
Source quote
“Investment banking revenues were $2.4 billion. The 58% increase from the prior year reflected strength across products as momentum built across capital raising and strategic activity.”
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Figure
Wealth Management added a record $148 billion in organic net new assets driven by large IPOs of late-stage private workplace clients.
Source quote
“Wealth Management added a record $148 billion in organic net new assets, driven by large IPOs of late-stage private workplace clients.”
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Figure
MS increased its quarterly dividend by $0.15 to $1.15 per share.
Source quote
“Reflecting the strength of our capital position, we announced a quarterly dividend increase of $0.15, bringing the quarterly dividend per share to $1.15.”
4 more
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Guidance
Data center CapEx for 2026 increased from a forecast of $575 billion in November 2025 to approximately $850 billion.
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Figure
This quarter, Morgan Stanley delivered on all three of those priorities, including announcing a 15% increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share.
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Figure
The company reached $10 trillion of total client assets across wealth and investment management as it entered the second half of the year.
Source quote
“We enter the second half of the year with $10 trillion of total client assets across wealth and investment management.”
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Figure
The wealth management pre-tax margin reached 30.5% this quarter, reflecting the performance of dollars spent toward investments.
Source quote
“Just talking about the dollars spend towards investments, talk about when we think about the wealth management pre-tax margin, pretty strong 30.5%.”
Tone
How upbeat the language was, compared with other companiesiTone counts positive minus negative finance words, adjusted for length. Executives mostly speak positively, so the labels compare each call with every company's latest call: “typical” is the middle third, “very upbeat” the top tenth, “cautious” the bottom tenth.. Dot: Q2 2026. Ring: Q1 2026.
Management sounded noticeably less positive answering analysts than in its prepared script — one of the biggest drops of any company call. Scripts are polished in advance; a drop under questioning often marks the topics analysts pressed on, so the answers deserve a closer read than the script.
Sentences that drove the tone
“Micro results increased year-over-year, driven by strong performance in credit corporates on the back of improved inventory management and robust primary issuance.”
“Revenues of $8.9 billion and pre-tax profit of $2.7 billion were both a record, supported by rising asset levels and robust retail engagement.”
“We have a 15-year record of successfully integrating acquisitions, and we are, as a discipline, constantly evaluating potential inorganic opportunities to expand and attract to geographies, bolt on new capabilities,...”
Full figures
USD · SEC EDGAR XBRL (10-Q, period end 2026-06-30)
| Metric | Q2 2026period end 2026-06-30 | Q1 2026period end 2026-03-31 | Change | Q2 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 21.35B | 20.58B | +3.7% | 16.79B | +27.1% |
| Operating income | 7.35B | 7.01B | +4.8% | 4.62B | +59.0% |
| Net income | 5.58B | 5.57B | +0.3% | 3.54B | +57.7% |
| EPS | 3.46 | 3.43 | +0.9% | 2.13 | +62.4% |
| P/E today 14.4 | 16.9 | 14.9 | +2.0 | 16.0 | +0.9 |
Topics
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Latest announcements
Official filings, newest first. Summaries are generated from each filing and its attachment; every figure is checked against the source.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
Morgan Stanley reported net revenues of $20.3 billion for the third quarter of 2026, compared to $18.2 billion in the same period a year ago.
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
Morgan Stanley reported net revenues of $21.3 billion and earnings per diluted share of $3.46 for the second quarter of 2026, compared to $16.8 billion and $2.13 respectively a year ago.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
Morgan Stanley will increase its quarterly common stock dividend from $1.00 to $1.15 per share and reauthorized a multi-year common equity share repurchase program of up to $20 billion.
- Shareholder vote results · SEC 8-K · routine
- Results of operations · SEC 8-K
Morgan Stanley reported net revenues of $20.6 billion and earnings per diluted share of $3.43 for the first quarter of 2026, compared to $17.7 billion and $2.60 in the same period a year ago.
- Other events · SEC 8-K
Morgan Stanley reported 2025 net revenues of $70.6 billion, up 14% year-over-year, and set the 2025 total compensation for CEO Edward Pick at $45 million.
- Results of operations; Regulation FD disclosure · SEC 8-K
Morgan Stanley reported full-year net revenues of $70.6 billion, up from $61.8 billion a year ago, with a net income of $16.9 billion and earnings per diluted share of $10.21.
Catalyst calendar
management-stated targets — from the latest earnings call; plans, not promises.
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For the third quarter
expected modest sequential increase in NII
Source quote
“For the third quarter, we expect a modest sequential increase in NII.”
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annual
expected tax rate to be between 22% and 23%
Source quote
“We continue to expect our annual tax rate to be between 22% and 23%, which similar to prior years, will exhibit some quarterly volatility.”
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2026
data center CapEx
Source quote
“The forecast for 2026 on data center CapEx that was taken late last year, around November of 2025, was that $575 billion would be spent this year, and it's coming in at about $850 billion.”
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2027
data center CapEx
Source quote
“That for 2027, the view was it would be around $700 billion, and now it's projected at $1.3 trillion.”
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over 10 years
spending in the search for additional intelligence
Source quote
“$10 trillion spent over 10 years in the search for additional intelligence, which could bring an additional boost to aggregate productivity value.”