Morgan Stanley posts record revenue as trading and deals surge

Morgan Stanley posted record second-quarter revenue of $21.348 billion and net income of $5.6 billion as volatile markets and a rebound in dealmaking sent trading and advisory fees higher. The bank also said wealth and investment client assets crossed $10 trillion, a milestone reinforced by stock-plan inflows from newly public companies.

The numbers point to an economy that is rewarding scale, market access and corporate finance more than broad consumer confidence. Morgan Stanley’s investment banking revenue jumped 58% to $2.44 billion, and global announced mergers and acquisitions reached $2.8 trillion in the first half of 2026, up 48% from a year earlier and the highest opening six months in LSEG records going back to 1980. That kind of backdrop is a tailwind for banks with deep underwriting, advisory and trading businesses, even if it does not tell the same story for households outside the financial markets.

Ted Pick said “active markets and consistent execution across all three regions drove exceptional results,” as the firm reported a return on tangible common equity of 26.6%. Net income applicable to Morgan Stanley rose from $3.5 billion, or $2.13 a share, a year earlier to $5.6 billion, or $3.46 a diluted share.

Wealth Management added a record $148 billion in net new assets during the quarter, and Sharon Yeshaya said more than half of that came from stock-plan IPO flows. Morgan Stanley said total client assets across Wealth and Investment Management reached $10 trillion, a mark that underscores how the firm’s franchise is tied not only to trading but also to employees at companies that are finally reaching public markets. The bank said it manages 70% of the stock plans at the 100 biggest unicorns, giving it a large pipeline if more of those private companies go public.

The deal list reflected where Wall Street is leaning. Morgan Stanley worked on the record SpaceX market debut, Cerebras’ New York IPO, Alphabet’s equity capital raise and Fertitta Entertainment’s agreement to buy Caesars Entertainment. It also won underwriting roles in the expected IPOs of Anthropic and OpenAI, further tying the bank to the AI financing boom.

Pick has described that market as a multi-year investment cycle, while warning that technology and power bottlenecks could slow it down. Morgan Stanley Research has said U.S. data-center demand could reach 74 gigawatts by 2028, with a projected shortfall of about 49 gigawatts in available power access, a gap that highlights both the scale of the opportunity and the physical limits around it.

Morgan Stanley said the quarter helped lift first-half 2026 revenue to $42 billion and earnings per share to $6.90. The board also raised the quarterly dividend 15% to $1.15 a share, signaling confidence that the mix of trading, deals and wealth management can keep producing cash even if the broader economy remains uneven.