Morgan Stanley bankers crush estimates in record quarter for M&A
BNN Bloomberg
Morgan Stanley’s investment bankers scored their best quarter ever, boosted by a torrid pace of dealmaking.
Morgan Stanley’s investment bankers scored their best quarter ever, boosted by a torrid pace of dealmaking.
The division hauled in US$2.85 billion in the third quarter, a 67 per cent jump that topped analysts’ estimates and helped drive firmwide profitability higher. Equity-trading revenue surged 24 per cent to US$2.9 billion, the firm said in a statement Thursday.
“We are firing on all cylinders again,” Chief Financial Officer Sharon Yeshaya said in an interview.
Wall Street’s top firms have been capitalizing on a golden era for dealmaking and trading since the start of the pandemic. Now, as a trading slowdown takes hold, investment bankers have been picking up the slack, with booming capital markets and merger-advisory businesses generating record fees.
Bank of America Corp. said earlier Thursday that its third-quarter results got a boost from higher fees at the dealmaking unit. JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Wednesday its mergers-and-acquisitions business posted its best quarter ever.
Shares of Morgan Stanley, which advanced 44 per cent this year through Wednesday, climbed 2.9 per cent to US$101.39 at 8:23 a.m. in early New York trading. The New York-based firm’s gains throughout the pandemic have been outpacing rivals with consumer operations, which suffered during the crisis.
The federal government announced intentions to raise the inclusion rate on capital gains taxes for corporations and individuals earning beyond a certain threshold, which will impact wealthy individuals who are benefiting from tax advantages not available to middle class Canadians, according to the Budget 2024.