Earnings

Morgan Stanley solidly beats earnings expectations

MS CFO: Brexit put us in unchartered territory
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MS CFO: Brexit put us in unchartered territory

Morgan Stanley on Wednesday topped analysts' estimates for the second quarter, reporting earnings per share of 75 cents and revenue of $8.9 billion.

The Street was expecting earnings per share of 59 cents on $8.3 billion in revenue. In the comparable period a year ago, the bank reported 79 cents a share in earnings on $9.74 billion in revenue.

"Our results this quarter reflect solid performance in an improved but still fragile environment," CEO James Gorman said in a statement. "In the midst of market uncertainty, we maintained our leadership positions across our core franchises and continued our focus on prudent risk management and judicious expense control."

Morgan Stanley said its fixed income division posted $1.3 billion in revenue, its wealth management division added $3.8 billion in revenue and its investment banking team generated $1.1 billion in revenue.

Morgan Stanley's beat rounds out a solid quarter for the six major Wall Street banks. Tuesday, Goldman Sachs solidly beat top- and bottom-line expectations; on Monday Bank of America also beat analysts' estimates. Last week, Citigroup posted an earnings beat, Wells Fargo matched earnings estimates and JPMorgan Chase also topped analyst expectations.

Morgan Stanley The bank reported compensation has been reduced to $4 billion from $4.4 billion a year ago, reflecting lower revenues.

Share prices were up 1.8 percent Wednesday afternoon.

Last month, after passing regulators' stress tests, the bank announced it would increase its quarterly dividend to 20 cents a share and announced plans to repurchase shares, to the tune of $3.5 billion.