Investing.com - Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reported stronger than expected first quarter earnings ahead of Monday’s opening bell, sending its shares higher in pre-market trade.
Morgan Stanley said adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.14 in the three months ended March 31, beating expectations for earnings of 78 cents per share.
Results for the current quarter included a net discrete tax benefit of $564 million, or 29 cents per diluted share, primarily associated with the repatriation of non-U.S. earnings at a lower cost than originally estimated.
The bank’s first quarter adjusted revenue totaled $9.78 billion, above forecasts for revenue of $9.17 billion and compared to revenue of $9.0 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Trading revenue was $4.08 billion in the quarter, up 26% from $3.24 billion in the same period a year ago. Revenue from investment banking totaled $1.17 billion in the first quarter, a 3.3% increase from $1.14 billion in the first quarter of 2014.
James P. Gorman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "This was our strongest quarter in many years with improved performance across most areas of the firm."
Immediately after the earnings announcement, Morgan Stanley shares rose 2.42% in trading prior to the opening bell to hit $37.64 from a closing price of $36.75 on Friday.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets was upbeat. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 0.45% at the open, the S&P 500 futures indicated a rise of 0.45%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled an increase of 0.3%.