Morgan Stanley posts third-quarter profit miss as investment banking revenue collapses 55%

Morgan Stanley is set to report third-quarter earnings before the opening bell on Friday.

Here are the numbers:

• Earnings of $1.47 a share, compared with $1.49 estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv
• Revenue of $12.99 billion, compared with the $13.3 billion estimate

How is James Gorman’s bank navigating increasingly choppy markets?

That’s the question for Morgan Stanley, whose investment banking, trading and wealth management operations are all impacted by the vagaries of the market.

Wall Street banks are grappling with the collapse in IPOs and debt and equity issuance this year, a sharp reversal from the deals boom that drove results last year. The slowdown was triggered by broad declines in financial assets, recession concerns and the Ukraine war.

While analysts expect the bank’s wealth management and investment management divisions – responsible for half of the firm’s revenue – will hold up better than investment banking, lower asset values will reduce revenue there as well.

Still, parts of Morgan Stanley’s operations are expected to benefit. Bond traders are expected to post good results, thanks to volatility in commodities and interest rates.

Shares of the bank have dropped 19% this year through Thursday, holding up better than the 25% decline of the KBW Bank Index.

Wells Fargo and Citigroup are also scheduled to report results Friday, followed by Bank of America on Monday and Goldman Sachs on Tuesday.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.