Morgan Stanley Quarterly Earnings Report: Profit Boosts From Bond Trading In Q3 2016

Things are looking up for Morgan Stanley.

On Wednesday, the Wall Street investment bank posted a better-than-expected third quarter profit, which was boosted by a surge in bond trading, Reuters reported.

In the quarter that ended Sept. 30, Morgan Stanley’s net income was $1.5 billion, or 81 cents per share. Analysts expected earnings of 63 cents per share.

For the same period in 2015, Morgan Stanley earnings were 34 cents per share, which makes this quarter's gain 139 percent.

Overall, sales rose $1.1 billion in the quarter to $8.9 billion. According to CNBC, Morgan Stanley's earnings were predicted to experience a boost from its role in Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn, a $26.2 billion deal.

“This quarter we saw record revenues in wealth management and a strong performance in our sales and trading business. While the environment was more challenging for our equity underwriting and asset management businesses, our expense initiatives remain on track. Overall the results reflect steady progress against our long term strategic goals,” Morgan Stanley CEO CEO James Gorman said in a statement.

Although it’s still early in the fourth quarter, Morgan Stanley CFO Jonathan Pruzan told Reuters the trading environment has been similar to the end of September so far.

Morgan Stanley's closest rival, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, also had a strong third quarter and reported a better-than-expected 58 percent profit rise on Tuesday.