Morgan Stanley traders and bankers joined the rest of their Wall Street rivals in posting better-than-expected revenue, fueling a 32% profit surge for the third quarter and sending the shares up the most in almost four years.
Revenue from the trading business rose 13%, the bank said in a statement Wednesday. That followed gains recorded by its biggest rivals as the markets business lifted fortunes across the industry and a rebound in dealmaking fueled higher investment-banking fees.
"There is an element of the leaders pulling away from the pack because it costs a lot to run those businesses every year," Chief Executive Officer Ted Pick said Wednesday in an interview on Bloomberg Television, referring to the trading operations.
The firm's critical wealth unit also stood out, generating record revenue of $7.27 billion, higher than analysts' expectations, with $64 billion in net new assets. The unit boosted its pretax margin to 28%, driven by growth in fee-based assets.
"It was a standout quarter in a constructive environment," Chief Financial Officer Sharon Yeshaya said in an interview. "We are only getting started and capital markets are only going to get stronger," she said, adding: "It's good but it's not the peak."
The bank's stock soared as much as 8.2%, the biggest intraday increase since November 2020. They closed up 6.5% to $119.51, pushing this year's gain to 28%.
CEO Pick has pitched the idea that the investment-banking business is on the cusp of a multiyear cycle that will prove to be a boon for firms like his as fees rebound. The bank has also been assuring markets that margins in its giant wealth operation are set to jump as the bank marches toward its $10 trillion firmwide asset-management goal.
Morgan Stanley has been preparing to seize on new opportunities from a revival in dealmaking with a reshuffle of its top ranks. In July, the company tapped longtime capital-markets banker Mo Assomull as a new co-head of investment banking alongside Eli Gross and Simon Smith. It also named Evan Damast and Henrik Gobel as new leaders of the global capital-markets unit.
