Investing.com – Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) jumped in pre-market trade on Thursday after reporting fourth quarter earnings.
The financial services firm reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.84, excluding the impact of the recent tax legislation passed by the U.S. Congress, in the three months ended December 31.
Analysts’ forecast pointed to earnings of $0.77 a share.
For the fourth quarter, net income hit $686 million, or $0.29 per diluted share.
However, Morgan Stanley noted that the figure included a net discrete tax provision of $990 million or a loss of $0.55 per diluted share”.
“Excluding net discrete tax items, net income applicable to Morgan Stanley was $1.7 billion, or $0.84 per diluted share compared with net income of $1.5 billion, or $0.74 per diluted share, for the same period a year ago,” the bank explained in its release.
Meanwhile, the firm’s revenue increased 5.3% from the same quarter a year earlier to $9.5 billion, beating the forecast for $9.19 billion.
“Over the course of the full year we achieved the strategic objectives outlined two years ago,” Morgan Stanley chairman and CEO James Gorman said in the release, pointing to the increase of 10% in 2017 revenue, leading to growth of 18% in pre-tax earnings.
“We enter 2018 with strong momentum aided by rising interest rates, tax reform and an evolving regulatory framework,” Gorman added.
Traders will now turn their attention to the firm’s conference call due to start at 8:30AM ET (13:30GMT).
Following the release of the report, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) rose 1.32% to $56.07 at 7:10AM ET (12:10GMT) in pre-market trade, from the previous closing price of $55.35. Shares had been trading down around 0.2% at $55.22 prior to the publication.