Morgan Stanley's Q2 net income experienced a 14% decline, mirroring a continued shortfall in deal-making activities and a contraction in equities and bonds trading.
The banking institution reported a stagnant $1.16 billion in investment banking revenue, and trading revenues dipped due to reduced market fluctuations. Both fixed income and equities trading saw substantial dips of 31% and 14% respectively.
CEO James Gorman described the quarter as testing due to macroeconomic ambiguity and tepid client engagement, though he noted a shift towards a promising market tone towards the end.
Despite sluggish trading performance amid a quieter market, CFO Sharon Yeshaya expressed in a phone interview that the market's steadying trend has yet to catalyze activity within capital markets.
However, Yeshaya is optimistic about investment banking driving recovery in the ensuing quarter.
The Wall Street titan's modest trading outcomes paralleled that of its counterparts such as JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Citigroup (NYSE:C), whereas Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) unveiled an unexpected uptick in markets revenue.
Exempting extraordinary items, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reported a $1.24 per share earning on a $13.46 billion revenue, surpassing expectations of $1.15 per share on a $13.08 billion revenue, as per Refinitiv IBES data.
UBS analyst Brennan Hawken views the results as surpassing predictions given the adverse circumstances, as noted in his report.
Severance costs of $300 million further impinged on Morgan Stanley's earnings following this year's staff reduction measures.
With Gorman's announcement in May of his departure within a year, Morgan Stanley's board has begun focusing on identifying his successor at its upcoming summer and fall sessions, according to insider information disclosed to Reuters last month.
Potential successors include co-presidents Ted Pick, who supervises investment banking and trading operations, and Andy Saperstein, who manages wealth management.
Gorman emphasized that despite the varying performance of business units, their outcomes aren't the sole determinants for CEO selection.
The wealth management division boasted an unprecedented $6.7 billion net revenue, marking a 16% year-on-year increase, and managed to secure $90 billion in new assets for Q2.
Revenue for the investment management unit, headed by another potential CEO successor, Dan Simkowitz, declined by 2%.
Following the release of Q2 results, Morgan Stanley's stock saw a modest rise of nearly 1% during early trading.
