Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) investors will be delighted, with the company turning in some strong numbers with its latest results. Morgan Stanley beat earnings, with revenues hitting US$15b, ahead of expectations, and statutory earnings per share outperforming analyst reckonings by a solid 19%. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from Morgan Stanley's 18 analysts is for revenues of US$62.6b in 2025. This would reflect a modest 7.5% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to grow 19% to US$7.86. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$62.4b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$7.85 in 2025. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of US$117, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. The most optimistic Morgan Stanley analyst has a price target of US$135 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$97.00. There are definitely some different views on the stock, but the range of estimates is not wide enough as to imply that the situation is unforecastable, in our view.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. We can infer from the latest estimates that forecasts expect a continuation of Morgan Stanley'shistorical trends, as the 6.0% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 is roughly in line with the 5.6% annual growth over the past five years. Juxtapose this against our data, which suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenues grow 5.8% per year. It's clear that while Morgan Stanley's revenue growth is expected to continue on its current trajectory, it's only expected to grow in line with the industry itself.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. Happily, there were no real changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow in line with the overall industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$117, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Morgan Stanley going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here..

It is also worth noting that we have found 2 warning signs for Morgan Stanley that you need to take into consideration.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.