Haverhill Financial Research · News · October 14, 2026
The short version
Morgan Stanley earned $4.9 billion in the third quarter, or $3.03 a share, up from $4.6 billion and $2.80 a year ago. Revenue rose 12% to $20.3 billion. Equities trading was the standout, up 41% to $5.8 billion, and the wealth business posted record revenue of $9.1 billion. The weak spot was Investment Management, where revenue fell 12% after the firm reversed carried interest it had booked on one of its private funds.
The numbers
| Measure | Q3 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Net revenues | $20.34B | +12% |
| Net income | $4.91B | +6% |
| Diluted earnings per share | $3.03 | +8% |
| Return on tangible common equity | 22.6% | 23.5% a year ago |
| Equity trading and servicesInstitutional Securities | $5.80B | +41% |
| Fixed incomeInstitutional Securities | $2.01B | −7% |
| Investment bankingAdvisory $887M, up from $684M | $2.16B | +2% |
| Wealth Management revenuePre-tax margin 30.4% | $9.07B | +10% |
| Wealth net new assets | $232.4B | $81.0B a year ago |
| Investment Management revenueAssets under management $2.05T | $1.46B | −12% |
| Common equity tier 1 ratioStandardized | 14.9% | 15.1% a year ago |
Net revenues by segment, third quarter 2025 and 2026. Source: Morgan Stanley earnings releases.
Where the money came from
Trading. Institutional Securities revenue rose to $10.0 billion from $8.5 billion. Nearly all of the gain came from equities, which added about $1.7 billion. Fixed income fell 7% to $2.0 billion. In investment banking, advisory fees rose 30% to $887 million while underwriting of both stocks and bonds came in lower.
Wealth. The wealth unit earned a record $2.8 billion before tax on $9.1 billion of revenue. Clients brought in $232 billion of net new assets, almost three times last year's $81 billion, and fee-based flows nearly doubled to $80.5 billion. Fee-based assets are now $3.16 trillion.
Investment Management. Asset management fees edged up to $1.57 billion, but performance-based income swung to a $106 million loss from a $117 million gain because of the carried interest reversal.
Capital and credit
The firm bought back $1.54 billion of stock in the quarter, about 7 million shares at an average of $212.74, up from $1.09 billion a year ago. The quarterly dividend is $1.15 a share. Morgan Stanley also set aside $148 million for credit losses, against nothing a year ago, mostly for corporate and commercial real estate loans.
What we will be watching
Net new assets. $232 billion in a quarter is unusually high. We want to see how much of it sticks and turns into fee-based accounts.
Equities trading. It has been the engine across the big banks this week. A quieter market would show up here first.
Credit provisions. They are small, but they are new. Commercial real estate is worth keeping an eye on.
Our take
This was a good quarter, and a balanced one. The trading desk had a big three months, but the wealth business, which is steadier and more valuable over time, also grew 10% and pulled in a remarkable amount of new money. The Investment Management miss looks like a one-fund accounting reversal rather than a trend.
Sources and disclosures
Every company figure comes from Morgan Stanley's third-quarter 2026 earnings release, furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K. Percentage changes for segment lines are our calculations from the reported figures.
Disclosures. Haverhill Financial Research is a publisher of general financial commentary. This article is not personalized investment advice and does not consider any reader's financial situation; readers should do their own research. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Company figures and guidance can change. The author of this post does not hold positions in Morgan Stanley or the other companies named. Data as of October 14, 2026.
