In the latest market close, Morgan Stanley (MS) reached $125.75, with a -0.8% movement compared to the previous day. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.07%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.97%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.19%.
Coming into today, shares of the investment bank had lost 3.69% in the past month. In that same time, the Finance sector lost 4.94%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.36%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Morgan Stanley in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on January 16, 2025. On that day, Morgan Stanley is projected to report earnings of $1.58 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 39.82%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $14.65 billion, indicating a 13.6% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
MS's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $7.36 per share and revenue of $60.17 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +34.8% and +11.14%, respectively.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Morgan Stanley. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.48% higher. Morgan Stanley currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, Morgan Stanley is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 17.22. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 16.78, which means Morgan Stanley is trading at a premium to the group.
It's also important to note that MS currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.14. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. Financial - Investment Bank stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.38 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Financial - Investment Bank industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 52, putting it in the top 21% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
