In what is shaping up to be a big week of bank earnings, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) delivered its Q3 report on Oct. 14, comfortably beating analyst expectations on the headline numbers. However, as with Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) the day before, the market sold off the stock.
Morgan Stanley shares fell 2.7% in the Oct. 14 session, leaving them at around $180, where they had begun the year after a 20% slide from July’s high. For a headline beat, that is a chilly reception, and it points to a familiar tension in how the major banks are being judged this quarter. Like many of its peers in recent days, Morgan Stanley’s results looked strong on the surface, but the underlying fundamentals gave investors reason to pause.
