Morgan Stanley (MS) stock beat on EPS and revenue as it reported its fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 16.
Buoyed by positive sentiments around the company, the stock just made a remarkable technical move by forming a ‘Golden Cross’ on the price charts.
On Jan. 18, the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) for Morgan Stanley stock crossed over the 200-day SMA, indicating a shift to bullish sentiments.
Considered a momentum indicator, the golden cross suggests a pronounced upward trend in the market, signifying increasing prices and gaining momentum.
Morgan Stanley’s Q4 EPS of $1.13 beat consensus by 22.83%, while revenue of $12.90 billion beat consensus by 10.89%, despite a drop in profit.
Morgan Stanley’s Q4 profit declined to $1.5 billion (from $2.2 billion in Q4 2022) due to higher wealth management costs and a $249 million regulatory settlement.
Analysts, who reviewed the stock after the earnings report, either downgraded or maintained their ratings on the stock, with three of four analysts cutting their price target for Morgan Stanley stock.
- Oppenheimer’s Chris Kotowski maintained an Outperform rating while reducing the price target to $106.
- BMO Capital’s James Fotheringham maintained an Outperform rating with a price target of $107.
- David Konrad of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform, reducing the price target from $102 to $91 a share.
- JP Morgan’s Kian Abouhossein downgraded from Overweight to Neutral, and the price target from $94 to $87.
The emergence of the Golden Cross should infuse confidence among Morgan Stanley investors, despite the mixed opinions from analysts.
