Earnings Outlook For Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley MS announces its next round of earnings this Wednesday, January 20. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Wednesday's Q4 earnings announcement.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

Earnings and especially earnings per share (EPS) are useful measures of a company's profitability. Total earnings, which is also referred to as net income, equals total revenue minus total expenses. EPS equals to net income divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Earnings And Revenue

Wall Street analysts see Morgan Stanley reporting earnings of $1.27 per share on sales of $11.54 billion. Morgan Stanley earnings in the same period a year ago was $1.2 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $10.86 billion.

Why Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises Are Important

Wall Street analysts who study this company will publish analyst estimates of revenue and EPS. The averages of all analyst EPS and revenue estimates are called the "consensus estimates"; these consensus estimates can have a significant effect on a company's performance during an earnings release. When a company posts earnings or revenue above or below a consensus estimate, it has posted an "earnings surprise", which can really move a stock depending on the difference between actual and estimated values.

The Wall Street estimate would represent a 5.83% increase in the company's earnings. Sales would be up 6.29% on a year-over-year basis. Morgan Stanley's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley were trading at $75.22 as of January 18. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 35.45%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders should be content going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Morgan Stanley is scheduled to hold the call at 08:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.