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Morgan Stanley (MS) Rises But Trails Market: What Investors Should Know

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Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $131.61, moving +0.3% from the previous trading session. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.56%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.42%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.83%.

Shares of the investment bank have appreciated by 12.87% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Finance sector's gain of 4.42% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.11%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Morgan Stanley in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on January 16, 2025. In that report, analysts expect Morgan Stanley to post earnings of $1.54 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 36.28%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $14.55 billion, showing a 12.81% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

MS's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $7.32 per share and revenue of $60.07 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +34.07% and +10.95%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Morgan Stanley. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.53% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Morgan Stanley presently features a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

With respect to valuation, Morgan Stanley is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.92. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 17.11 of its industry.

Investors should also note that MS has a PEG ratio of 1.22 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Financial - Investment Bank industry held an average PEG ratio of 1.55.

The Financial - Investment Bank industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 56, finds itself in the top 23% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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