How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.
FOMO, or the fear of missing out, also plays a role in investing, particularly with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Morgan Stanley (MS) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to MS for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Morgan Stanley's Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Morgan Stanley's main business drivers.
Founded in 1935 and incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware in 1981, Morgan Stanley is the leading financial services holding company headquartered in New York. With 82,398 employees, the company serves a diversified group of clients and customers — including corporations, governments, financial institutions and individuals — through offices across 41 countries.
The company’s business is divided into three segments:
The Institutional Securities ("IS") segment (contributing 45.5% of total net revenues in 2024) includes capital raising; financial advisory services that include advices on mergers and acquisitions (M&As), restructurings, real estate and project finance; corporate lending; sales, trading, financing and market-making activities in equity and fixed income securities and related products, including foreign exchange and commodities; benchmark indices and risk management analytics; and investment activities.
The Wealth Management ("WM") segment (46%) provides brokerage and investment advisory services covering various investment alternatives; financial and wealth planning services; annuity and other insurance products; credit and other lending products; cash management services; retirement services; and trust and fiduciary services and engages in fixed income principal trading.
The Investment Management ("IM") segment (8.5%) provides global asset management products and services in equity, fixed income, alternative investments that include hedge funds and funds of funds, and merchant banking including real estate, private equity and infrastructure, to institutional and retail clients through proprietary and third-party distribution channels. The segment also engages in investment.
In 2019, Morgan Stanley acquired Canada-based Solium Capital Inc. and renamed it as Shareworks by Morgan Stanley. In 2020, the company acquired E*Trade Financial. In 2021, it acquired Eaton Vance.
Bottom Line
Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Morgan Stanley, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.
A $1000 investment made in December 2015 would be worth $5,042.67, or a 404.27% gain, as of December 4, 2025, according to our calculations. Investors should note that this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
The S&P 500 rose 234.19% and the price of gold increased 271.93% over the same time frame in comparison.
Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for MS.
Morgan Stanley's shares have outperformed the industry in the past six months. The company's focus on wealth and asset management operations along with its strategic alliances and acquisitions will aid the top line. The deal to buy EquityZen will help it tap the rapidly growing private markets landscape. The performance of the investment banking (IB) business will continue to be driven by a strong pipeline. We project total revenues and IB fees to increase 11.7% and 12.8% in 2025, respectively. However, costs will remain elevated due to expansion efforts. We project total expenses to rise 9.1% in 2025. While trading revenues have been increasing, growth in the same might become challenging in the future because of the volatile nature of the business. Yet, the company's efficient capital distributions reflect a solid balance sheet.
The stock is up 5.17% over the past four weeks, and no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 6 higher, for fiscal 2025. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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Morgan Stanley (MS): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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