Morgan Stanley beats profit estimates on dealmaking boost, strong trading

The bank reached its long-time goal of **$10 trillion** in wealth management assets, helped by the liquidity received by employees of companies that completed IPOs in the second quarter. "More than half of the **$148 billion** in net new assets came from stock plan IPO flows," said Morgan Stanley CFO Sharon Yeshaya in a phone interview. The bank expects its flow to wealth management to continue, as it manages **70% of stock plans** of the 100 biggest unicorns, companies valued above **$1 billion**, Yeshaya added. Mega-deals helped drive the total value of announced mergers and acquisitions to **$2.8 trillion** in the first six months of the year, the highest first-half total since LSEG records began in 1980. Morgan Stanley's investment banking revenue soared **58%** to **$2.44 billion**, boosted by a rise in IPO underwriting and M&A advisory fees. Morgan Stanley served as a lead underwriter for the record **$2 trillion** market debut of Elon Musk's SpaceX, a landmark initial public offering that was a part of the revival of activity in the U.S. listings market. The investment bank was a lead underwriter on chipmaker Cerebras' New York IPO and a joint book-running manager on Alphabet's equity capital raise announced last month. Among the notable deals in the quarter, the bank acted as a financial advisor on Fertitta Entertainment's agreement to buy Caesars Entertainment in a deal valued at **$17.6 billion**. Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick told analysts on the earnings call that the bank continues to look for potential acquisition targets that could increase its market share in specific areas or geographies, but added that the bar to find a deal is high. The only metric below market expectations, according to KBW analyst Chris McGratty, was **$1.5 billion** in share buybacks, below KBW's projection of **$1.8 billion**. Morgan Stanley shares were down around **1.2%** in trading before the bell. The shares have gained **28.5%** in 2026, underperforming Goldman Sachs, but outpacing the benchmark S&P 500 index. Morgan Stanley beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Wednesday, posting record revenue driven by strong deals activity, while market volatility resulted in record trading revenue at the investment bank. Net income applicable to the investment bank came in at **$5.58 billion**, or **$3.46 per share**, in the three months ended June 30, compared with **$3.54 billion**, or **$2.13 per share**, a year earlier. Analysts were expecting a profit of **$2.94 per share**, according to data compiled by LSEG. Net revenue came at a record **$21.35 billion**, above analyst forecast of **$19.64 billion** in the second quarter. Morgan Stanley posted record equities revenue of **$6.3 billion**, 69% above the quarter a year earlier. Clients increased trading activity as global markets navigated turbulence during the quarter with the U.S.-Iran standoff triggering a sharp rise in oil prices. Persistently high inflation and shifting monetary policy expectations also injected unpredictability, even though major equity benchmarks demonstrated resilience. A lot of the rise came from trading in Asian markets such as Hong Kong, India, Japan and Korea, the CFO added.

Morgan Stanley beats profit estimates on dealmaking boost, strong trading

Investment banking, wealth management and outlook

Record second-quarter profit on dealmaking and trading

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