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Morgan Stanley
MS · NYSE · Financial Services
Morgan Stanley is one of the world’s leading financial services firms, with operations across investment banking, sales and trading, wealth management, and investment management.
Current price
$181.51
▼ −$5.13 (2.75%) today
Share price
Live market data▲ +26.38 (+17.01%)2025-10-13 — 2026-10-14
ET&A View
Last reviewed 15 September 2026
Buy
ET&A sees significant upside from the current price with an attractive risk/reward profile.
Fair Value
Members
12M Price Target
Members
Preferred Entry
Members
ET&A Score
8.6/ 10Strong overall
Morgan Stanley has evolved from a predominantly cyclical investment bank into a higher-quality diversified financial franchise, combining leading institutional businesses with one of the largest wealth-management platforms…
Is it expensive?
Why we like it
- High returns on shareholders' money (18% a year).
- Profits are growing fast (+26%).
- Sales are growing steadily (+14% a year).
What worries us
Business Health
Is the business financially healthy?
Yes — healthy
Earnings and profitability stand out.
Overall
Strong
- Growth Good
Revenue
$77.8bn · ↑ +14% last year
- Growth Strong
Earnings
$19.5bn · ↑ +26% last year
- Excellent
Profitability
Earns 18% a year on shareholders' money
- Not rated yet
Capital strength
Its cushion against losses
- Yield Good
Dividend
2.5% yield · Pays out 32% of earnings · covered 3.1×
Investor View
More on Morgan Stanley
Open a section for the detail behind the quick view.
Our full viewET&A's complete thesis — why we hold the view we do.Members
Morgan Stanley has evolved from a predominantly cyclical investment bank into a higher-quality diversified financial franchise, combining leading institutional businesses with one of the largest wealth-management…
Insight
The complete ET&A view
See our full reasoning, what could drive the shares higher or go wrong, our Fair Value and Preferred Entry, and how our view has changed.
- Our View in full
- What could drive it higher / go wrong
- Fair Value & Preferred Entry
- How our view has changed
Explore Insight →Included with Insight
What could drive it higher — and what could go wrongThe catalysts and risks we are watching.Members
Valuation discussionWhere today's price sits, and how it compares with the company's own history and its peers.Members
Financial and earnings trendsSales, margins, profit, earnings per share and cash, year by year.
Reported annual results, newest first · Market data. “Growth” is the change in sales on the year before.
| Year | Revenue | Growth | Operating margin | Net income | EPS | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $66.0bn | +14.5% | — | $16.9bn | $10.21 | −$20.8bn |
| FY2024 | $57.6bn | +13.7% | — | $13.4bn | $7.95 | −$2.1bn |
| FY2023 | $50.7bn | +0.9% | — | $9.1bn | $5.18 | −$36.9bn |
| FY2022 | $50.2bn | — | — | $11.0bn | $6.15 | −$9.5bn |
Next earningsWed, 14 Oct 2026Earnings calendar →
Who it suitsStrategy suitability and investment style.
Long-term investors who want growth and income
Also suits: Investors who want a mix of growth and stability
How it compares with peersOther companies we cover in Financial Services.
- Bajaj Finance LimitedBAJFINANCE
ET&A sees significant upside from the current price with an attractive risk/reward profile.
Compare Morgan Stanley with any company → The model’s own peer calculations are in the Research View.
What the company doesThe full company profile.
Morgan Stanley is one of the world’s leading financial services firms, with operations across investment banking, sales and trading, wealth management, and investment management. The company serves corporations, governments, institutions, high-net-worth individuals, and retail investors, providing services such as capital raising, mergers and acquisitions advice, market-making, securities trading, financial planning, lending, asset allocation, and portfolio management.
Morgan Stanley’s strength comes from the combination of its global institutional franchise and its large wealth management platform. Its Institutional Securities business gives it exposure to capital markets, advisory activity, trading, and corporate finance, while Wealth Management and Investment Management provide more recurring, client-asset-driven revenue streams. This gives Morgan Stanley a diversified position across global finance, with exposure to corporate dealmaking, market activity, private wealth, asset management, and long-term capital formation.
Financial Services · USA
Research ViewOpen the full researchThe full researchFull financial statements, valuation multiples, historical data, forecasts, methodology, scoring calculations and the valuation model.OpenClose
For detailed analysis. Each section opens on its own.
Financial statementsEvery published figure with its source, the market snapshot and connected sheets.
Income
- Revenue
- $77.8bnMarket data
- Gross profit
- $68.2bnMarket data
- Operating profit (EBIT)
- $32.4bnCalculated
- Net income
- $19.5bnMarket data
- Earnings per share (EPS)
- $12.38Market data
Growth
- Revenue growth, latest year
- Strong14.5%Calculated
- Revenue growth, 3-year average
- Good9.5%Calculated
- Earnings growth, latest year
- Excellent25.9%Calculated
- Earnings growth, 3-year average
- Strong15.2%Calculated
- Revenue growth, latest quarter vs a year earlier
- 28.0%Market data
- Earnings growth, latest quarter vs a year earlier
- 62.4%Market data
Margins & returns
- Gross margin
- Excellent87.6%Market data
- EBITDA margin
- 0.0%Market data
- Operating margin
- Excellent41.6%Market data
- Net margin
- Excellent25.9%Market data
- Return on equity (ROE)
- Excellent18.0%Market data
- Return on assets (ROA)
- 1.3%Market data
Cash flow
- Operating cash flow
- −$15.6bnMarket data
- Free cash flow
- −$20.8bnMarket data
- Free-cash-flow margin
- Weak−26.7%Calculated
- Free cash flow ÷ net income
- −1.1×Calculated
Balance sheet
- Cash
- $739.1bnMarket data
- Total debt
- $607.5bnMarket data
- Net cash (more cash than debt)
- $131.6bnMarket data
- Debt ÷ equity
- 5.2×Market data
- Current ratio
- 2.0×Market data
Shares & dividends
- Shares outstanding
- 1.57bnMarket data
- Market capitalisation
- $285.1bnMarket data
- Dividend per share
- $4.15Market data
- Dividend yield
- Good2.5%Market data
- Payout ratio
- 32.3%Market data
- Market data — the live feed (Yahoo Finance)
- Calculated — worked out by ET&A from the figures shown, using the formulas in our methodology
Other published figures
- Price / Sales
- Members
- Price / Book
- Members
- Forward P/E
- Members
Valuation ratios (P/E, P/S, P/B, EV/EBITDA) are part of ET&A membership — view plans.
Market data
LivePrice$181.51
Day−$5.13 (−2.75%)
52-week range$154.37 – $228.55
vs 52-week low+17.58%
vs 52-week high−20.58%
As of 14 October 2026
- P/E Ratio
- 14.66x
Valuation multiplesP/E, forward P/E, EV/EBITDA, Price/Sales and FCF yield — today and at Fair Value.Members
Standard ways of comparing the share price with the company’s earnings, sales and cash. Tap the “i” for what each one means.
| Measure | Today | Source |
|---|---|---|
| P/E | Members | |
| Forward P/E | Members | |
| EV/EBITDA | Members | |
| Price/Sales | Members | |
| FCF Yield | Members |
Valuation ratios are part of ET&A membership.
Other published measures
- Price / Book
- Members
Historical dataValuation history, how our view has changed, and the share-price history.
Share-price history
Use the 5Y and Max ranges on the price chart at the top of the page.
ForecastsWhat analysts expect — market consensus, not ET&A estimates.
Forecasts
- Forward EPS (next year, consensus)
- $13.53Market data
- Expected EPS growth, next year
- Excellent24.8%Market data
- Expected revenue growth, next year
- 16.0%Market data
Forecasts are market consensus or calculated from forward EPS — not ET&A estimates, and they can be wrong.
MethodologyHow ET&A values a company and reaches a view.
How we value Morgan Stanley
- 1. The right method for the business. Each business is valued on the method that suits its economics — earnings for most companies, book value and returns for banks and insurers, cash flows or dividends where earnings mislead.
- 2. What the business deserves. ET&A builds a fair multiple from the company's own quality, sustainable growth, earnings predictability and risk. History, peers and the market are checked against it, but they don't set it.
- 3. Fair Value. The earnings (or other basis) per share multiplied by that fair multiple, cross-checked against independent methods.
- 4. Preferred Entry. A price below Fair Value that leaves room for the return ET&A requires for the company's risk.
- 5. Is it expensive? Today’s price is placed on ET&A’s Valuation Attractiveness scale — the same measure the ET&A Score uses. Cheap is the Preferred Entry; above Fair Value the shares are Expensive, and Very Expensive once they are more than 25% above it.
Powered by the ET&A Valuation FrameworkHow Fair Value & Preferred Entry work →
Read the full ET&A methodology →How we reach a view
The ET&A View combines our assessment of the business with where today’s price sits against our Preferred Entry and Fair Value. It is a considered judgement, not a mechanical score.
- Business quality
- Financial performance
- Growth outlook
- Debt and financial strength
- Valuation
- Risk
- What could drive it higher
- Buy
- ET&A sees significant upside from the current price with an attractive risk/reward profile.
- Accumulate
- ET&A likes the company but would prefer investors to build exposure gradually.
- Hold
- ET&A sees limited reason to buy aggressively or sell at the current price.
- Reduce
- ET&A believes the current valuation or risk profile makes a smaller position more appropriate.
- Sell
- ET&A believes the downside risk materially outweighs the potential return at the current price.
ET&A Score: ET&A's overall assessment of business quality, valuation, growth and risk, out of 10. It weighs business quality, financial strength, growth, valuation, risk, future prospects.
Powered by the ET&A Company Assessment FrameworkSee the full framework →
Scoring calculationsBehind the ET&A Score and the Business Health ratings.
Behind the ET&A Score
The automatic, rules-based scores that feed our research. The ET&A Score blends these with our own analysis of the business and its value. How the framework works →
ET&A Quant Score
Favourable
Thin margins · Strong balance sheet · Neutral
Profitability & margins · Thin margins5.0
Balance sheet · Strong balance sheet9.0
Price momentum · Neutral4.4
Context — not part of the score
- Valuation multiplesFairly priced
- Share-price steadinessHigh volatility
- IncomeModerate yield
Valuation and share-price swings describe the shares, not the company, so they are judged in the ET&A Score and View instead.
- Annualised volatility
- Members
- Max drawdown (1y)
- Members
- 12-month return
- Members
- 3-month return
- Members
- P/E
- Members
- Price / Sales
- Members
- Dividend yield
- Members
The detailed figures behind these scores — price swings, past falls, returns, valuation and margins — are part of ET&A membership. View plans
Based on the factors that could be measured (45% of the model).
Business Health ratings
Each area is scored from 0 to 10 on ET&A’s methodology scales — the same ones our research uses — then given a word: Excellent from 8.5, Strong from 7, Good from 5.5, Average from 4.5, Below Average from 3, Weak below 3. The overall answer is the average of the areas we could rate (at least three); the dividend isn’t part of it.
| Area | Based on | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue |
Rated on 3-year average revenue growth, on ET&A's growth scale. | 6.9 / 10 | Good |
| Earnings |
Rated on 3-year average earnings growth, on ET&A's growth scale. | 8.0 / 10 | Strong |
| Profitability |
For banks and insurers ET&A judges profitability on return on equity (and cost ÷ income where known), not sales margins. | 9.0 / 10 | Excellent |
| Capital strength | Needs equity and total assets to rate. For banks ET&A measures capital as equity ÷ assets, on its bank capital scale. | — | Not rated |
| Dividend |
Dividend yield on ET&A's income scale. Not part of the overall health rating. | 5.5 / 10 | Good |
| Overall | Average of the 3 rated areas | 8.0 / 10 | Strong |
ET&A's scales
Where each band starts on the scales above. They are fixed and identical for every company we cover; they come straight from ET&A’s methodology, so a company is judged the same way here as in our research.
| Measure | Excellent | Strong | Good | Average | Below Average | Weak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GrowthStructural Growth (Fundamental Conviction) | 18%+ | 10%+ | 5.0%+ | 1.7%+ | −2.5%+ | below −2.5% |
| Operating marginCompetitive Position (Fundamental Conviction) | 29%+ | 20%+ | 13%+ | 7.5%+ | 0%+ | below 0% (loss) |
| Net marginEarnings Durability (Fundamental Conviction) | 23%+ | 15%+ | 9.8%+ | 6.0%+ | 0%+ | below 0% (loss) |
| Free-cash-flow marginCapital Allocation (Fundamental Conviction) | 15%+ | 8.5%+ | 3.8%+ | 1.3%+ | −2.5%+ | below −2.5% |
| Net debt ÷ EBITDAStructural Risk (Fundamental Conviction) | net cash | ≤ 1.5× | ≤ 2.8× | ≤ 3.6× | ≤ 5.0× | above 5.0× |
| Return on equity (banks & insurers)Bank and insurer quality | 16%+ | 12%+ | 9.0%+ | 6.7%+ | 2.7%+ | below 2.7% |
| Equity ÷ assetsBank capital | 7.5%+ | 6.0%+ | 4.7%+ | 4.0%+ | any | — |
| Dividend yieldIncome factor (ET&A Quant Score) | 5.8%+ | 4.0%+ | 2.5%+ | 1.8%+ | 1.0%+ | below 1.0% |
Band floors: Excellent 8.5 · Strong 7 · Good 5.5 · Average 4.5 · Below Average 3 (scores out of 10). Utilities and property companies’ structural debt is scored 6.5, as in ET&A’s risk model.
Valuation model outputsFair Value, the 12-Month Price Target, Preferred Entry and the expected return — and how each was calculated.Members
Peer calculationsThe comparable companies the valuation model used, with their multiples and returns.Members
Detailed assumptionsEvery input the valuation model used, with its source.Members
Research notesNo research notes published yet.
No research notes have been published for Morgan Stanley yet.
Need deeper analysis on Morgan Stanley? ET&A Professional includes full company notes, valuations and models — or commission bespoke research.
Read more
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