Morgan Stanley profit rises on dealmaking boost
Published Wed, Jul 15, 2026 · 08:56 PM
[NEW YORK] Morgan Stanley reported a rise in second-quarter profit, driven by strong mergers and acquisitions activity despite macroeconomic uncertainty.
A lenient regulatory environment and buoyant equity markets have helped company executives across sectors to pursue large-scale deals, generating a windfall in advisory fees for investment banks.
Mega-deals helped drive the total value of announced mergers and acquisitions to US$2.8 trillion in the first six months of the year, up 48 per cent from a year ago and marking the highest first-half total since LSEG records began in 1980.
Among the notable deals in the quarter, the bank acted as a financial advisor on Fertitta Entertainment’s agreement to buy Caesars Entertainment in a deal valued at US$17.6 billion.
Morgan Stanley served as a lead underwriter for the record US$2 trillion market debut of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a landmark initial public offering that was a part of the revival of activity in US listings market.
The investment bank was a lead underwriter on chipmaker Cerebras’ stellar New York IPO and a joint book-running manager on Alphabet’s equity capital raise announced last month.
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs – who were also part of the bookrunning syndicate for the landmark SpaceX IPO – reported a similar jump in investment banking on Tuesday.
Morgan Stanley’s investment banking revenue soared to US$2.44 billion- from US$1.54 billion in the year earlier, boosted by a rise in M&A advisory fees.
Net income applicable to the investment bank came in at US$5.58 billion, or US$3.46 per share, in the three months ended June 30, compared with US$3.54 billion, or US$2.13 per share, a year earlier. REUTERS
