Morgan Stanley's 'Surprisingly Solid' Quarterly Results Garner Praise From Analysts

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) rose in early trading on Wednesday, after some of the biggest banks reported upbeat quarterly results.

Investors look forward to an exciting earnings season ahead. Here are some key analyst takeaways from Morgan Stanley’s earnings release.

UBS On Morgan Stanley

Analyst Brennan Hawken maintained a Buy rating and price target of $105.

Morgan Stanley’s results were “surprisingly solid,” given the challenging environment, Hawken said in a note.

While the core results were broadly in-line with expectations, net new assets (NNA) grew by a strong 8%, the analyst mentioned. “However, NII was flat Q/Q, (4c tailwind), which must have benefited from improving asset yields (with loans just up 1% Q/Q),” he further wrote.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

Oppenheimer On Morgan Stanley

Analyst Chris Kotowski reiterated an Outperform rating and price target of $110.

Morgan Stanley’s revenue beat was “spread across the investment banking, trading and 'other' lines, which seemed to include a grab bag of minor special items, and the bottom line was helped further by a 21% effective tax rate versus our 23% estimate,” Kotowski wrote in a note.

"The likely rebound in banking activity should not only benefit top-line results but also provide a solid foundation for margin normalization," the analyst said. He added that “continued resilience in performance” could be expected even if the environment remains muted.

MS Price Action: Shares of Morgan Stanley had risen by 0.85% to $92.72 at the time of publication Wednesday.

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