Morgan Stanley misses analysts’ profit expectations on worse-than-expected investment banking

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Morgan Stanley posted results below analysts' expectations for second quarter profit and revenue on weaker-than-expected investment banking revenue.

Here are the numbers:

That's the question for Morgan Stanley, which runs one of the larger equity capital markets operations on Wall Street.

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 change was triggered by broad declines in financial assets, pessimism over the possibility of a recession and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Morgan Stanley co-President Ted Pick said last month that markets would be dominated by concern over inflation and recession in a period of transition after nearly 15 years of easy-money policies by central banks came to an end.

«The banking calendar has quieted down a bit because people are trying to figure out whether we're going to have this paradigm shift clarified sooner or later,» Pick said.

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

While analysts expect that the bank's giant 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.

Shares of the bank have dropped 24% this year through Wednesday, worse than the 19% decline of the KBW Bank Index.

Wells Fargo and Citigroup are scheduled to report results on Friday, while Bank of America and Goldman Sachs post on Monday.

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