Morgan Stanley beats estimates on stronger-than-expected trading, M&A in Q1

Morgan Stanley earned $258 mn in revenue from its equity underwriting business, down sharply from $1.5 bn a year ago, when it generated handsome fees from a spate of high-profile IPOs

Morgan Stanley reported a smaller-than-expected 11% drop in first-quarter profit on Thursday as a near doubling in advisory fees from M&As helped cushion the blow from a slump in capital market activity.

The investment banking powerhouse outperformed rival Goldman Sachs in M&A advisory even as Russia's invasion of Ukraine unsettled equity markets and forced companies to hold off on dealmaking and stock market listings.

Trading revenue, too, fared better than what some analysts had feared, falling just 6% in the quarter to $3.98 billion from the highs of last year.

Morgan Stanley earned $258 million in revenue from its equity underwriting business, down