Morgan Stanley (MS) just dropped its third-quarter 2026 report card, and it's the kind of report card that gets stuck to the fridge. The bank reported better-than-expected results, powered by strong equity trading, a busy investment banking calendar, and record Wealth Management revenue.

Earnings came in at $3.03 per share, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $2.92. Revenue rose to $20.34 billion, topping Wall Street's estimate of $19.95 billion.

Institutional Securities Drives Growth

Institutional Securities generated $10 billion in net revenue, supported by strong equity trading and higher completed mergers and acquisitions.

Equity revenue climbed 41% to $5.8 billion, driven by increased client activity across regions, particularly in Asia.

Wealth Management Hits Record Revenue

Morgan Stanley's Wealth Management division reported record revenue of $9.1 billion, supported by higher asset management fees and net interest income.

Asset management revenue reached a record $5.54 billion, benefiting from rising market levels and sustained fee-based inflows.

The division attracted $232 billion in net new assets, with slightly more than half linked to initial public offerings. Fee-based flows totaled $80 billion during the quarter.

Bloomberg reported that Morgan Stanley's investment bankers worked on some of the year's largest IPOs, including SpaceX.

Elon Musk's aerospace company also uses Morgan Stanley's workplace services for employee equity compensation, retirement plans and executive benefits.

Investment Management Sees Strong Inflows

Investment Management generated $1.5 billion in revenue, primarily driven by higher asset management fees as average assets under management increased.

The division recorded $15.8 billion in positive long-term net flows.

Chairman and CEO Ted Pick said total client assets across Wealth and Investment Management reached $10.5 trillion, highlighting the company's scale and continued focus on growth and shareholder returns.

MS Stock Price Action

MS Price Action: Morgan Stanley shares were trading down 2.21% at $182.51 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to market data.