Morgan Stanley Q3 earnings beat, helped by equity, wealth management growth

Morgan Stanley (MS) turned in stronger-than-expected Q3 earnings and revenue as net interest income grew and its equity and wealth management businesses turned in robust year-over-year gains, offsetting weakness in fixed income and investment management.

Q3 GAAP EPS of $3.03, topping the average analyst estimate of $2.92, fell from $3.46 in Q2 and rose from $2.80 in last year’s Q3.

Net revenue of $20.3B, beating the consensus estimate of $20.1B, slipped from $21.3B in the prior quarter and increased from $18.2B a year ago.

"Institutional Securities benefited from global strength, led by our Equity franchise, and Wealth Management reported record revenues and added $232B in net new assets and $80B in fee-based flows," said Chairman and CEO Ted Pick. "Across Wealth and Investment Management, total client assets grew to $10.5T, demonstrating the scale of our platform and the strength of our franchise."

Morgan Stanley’s (MS) net interest income of $3.25B, vs. the Visible Alpha consensus of $2.80B, increased from $2.78B in Q2 and $2.49B in Q3 2025.

Pretax profit margin of 32% vs. 34% in the previous quarter and 33% a year ago. Compensation and benefits, as a percentage of net revenue, were 39% compared with 38% in Q2 and 41% in last year’s Q3.

Total non-compensation expenses were $5.72B vs. $5.72B in the prior quarter and $4.75B a year ago.

Provision for credit losses of $148M, vs. $88M Visible Alpha consensus, rose from $98M in the previous quarter and $0 a year ago.

Return on average tangible common equity of 22.6% vs. 26.6% in Q2 and 23.5% in Q3 2025.

Morgan Stanley (MS) stock slipped 0.8% in premarket trading.

Revenue by segment:

• Institutional Securities: $10.0B, down 9% Q/Q and up 18% Y/Y; investment banking revenue of $2.16B increased 2% Y/Y. Equity net revenue of $5.80B jumped 41% Y/Y, and fixed income net revenue of $2.01B dipped 7% Y/Y.

• Wealth Management: $9.07B, up 2% Q/Q and 10% Y/Y. Asset management revenue of $5.54B increased 16% Y/Y on asset growth primarily driven by market levels and the cumulative effect of strong fee-based flows..

• Investment Management: $1.46B dropped 11% Q/Q and 12% Y/Y. Asset management and related fees of $1.57B rose 2% Y/Y on higher average AUM driven by the cumulative impact of positive flows and higher market levels.