Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) stock rose 0.59% (As on July 17, 11:23:54 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company reported second-quarter results that crushed Wall Street expectations on the back of higher trading revenues. Net income rose 15% to $3.54 billion from $3.08 billion for the same period a year ago. Institutional securities reported net revenue of $7.64 billion, compared with about $6.98 billion a year ago. The strong performance was propelled by higher client activity with notable strength in equity trading. Wealth management was another strong segment for the bank, which delivered net revenues of $7.76 billion on higher asset management revenues. A year ago, the business saw revenue of $6.79 billion. Equity markets swung sharply during the quarter after US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs against major economies. The turbulence spurred trading as investors repositioned their portfolios and hedged risks, driving gains in Morgan Stanley’s trading business. In trading, equities revenue surged 23 per cent, while jumped 9 per cent in fixed income.

Moreover, Dealmaking rebounded at the end of the quarter as some companies looked past tariff uncertainty and gained confidence to carry out IPOs, mergers and acquisitions. Industry executives held up that optimism this week, anticipating that deals and stock market listings will pick up in the second half of the year. Investment banking revenue declined 5 per cent in the quarter. Advisory revenue slid to $508 million, compared with $592 million, a year ago. Among prominent deals in the quarter, Morgan Stanley advised Elon Musk’s xAI on a $5 billion debt raise and a separate $5 billion strategic equity investment. It also advised TJC on the $5 billion sale of Silvus Technologies to Motorola. Further, Morgan Stanley’s equity underwriting surged 42 per cent to $500 million, while fixed-income underwriting decreased 21 per cent to $532 million. It was the lead underwriter of fintech giant Chime’s $864 million June IPO. The bank also led IPOs for Hinge Health, raising $437.3 million, and marketing tech firm MNTN, which raised $187.2 million, in May.

MS in the second quarter of FY25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $2.13, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $1.93, according to Zacks Investment Research. The company had reported the adjusted revenue net of interest expense growth of 12 percent to $16.79 billion in the second quarter of FY25, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $15.92 billion.