Morgan Stanley
Through the investors’ lenses
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 3/3
| Measure | MS | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $18.62bn | positive | ✓ |
| Return on equity | 15.1% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | — | median 0.79x | — |
| Operating margin | 31.1% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
Passes 3 of 3. To be clear: Warren Buffett has never said anything about Morgan Stanley. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Terry Smith 1/1
| Measure | MS | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | — | median 10.1% | — |
| Cash conversion | — | median 1.78x | — |
| Operating margin | 31.1% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | — | median 0.79x | — |
Passes 1 of 1. To be clear: Terry Smith has never said anything about Morgan Stanley. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Charlie Munger 2/2
| Measure | MS | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | — | median 10.1% | — |
| Return on equity | 15.1% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 31.1% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
Passes 2 of 2. To be clear: Charlie Munger has never said anything about Morgan Stanley. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Chuck Akre 1/2
| Measure | MS | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 15.1% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | — | median 0.79x | — |
| Cash conversion | — | median 1.78x | — |
| Return on equity, sustained | 3 of 10 | 8 of 10 above median | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Chuck Akre has never said anything about Morgan Stanley. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Philip Fisher 3/3
| Measure | MS | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 31.1% | median 15.0% | ✓ |
| Net margin | 23.9% | median 10.2% | ✓ |
| Return on capital employed | — | median 10.1% | — |
| Operating margin, held or improving | 31.1% | 10-yr median 27.4% | ✓ |
Passes 3 of 3. To be clear: Philip Fisher has never said anything about Morgan Stanley. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 1/1
| Measure | MS | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | — | 2.00x published | — |
| Long-term debt to working capital | — | 1.00x published | — |
| Positive earnings, ten years running | 10 yrs | 10 published | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 1. To be clear: Benjamin Graham has never said anything about Morgan Stanley. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Peter Lynch 1/1
| Measure | MS | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt to equity | — | median 0.79x | — |
| Net margin | 23.9% | median 10.2% | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 1. To be clear: Peter Lynch has never said anything about Morgan Stanley. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | 37.7% | whyThe figure most screeners publish. |
Only one basis is shown, and that is the point. Operating and free cash flow swing with loan, deposit and reserve movements, so for a lender or insurer neither says anything about whether the dividend is affordable. Investment income is omitted for a second reason: insurers file it under the same tag a BDC uses, but it means investment income on float rather than the money that funds the distribution. Screeners that publish these for a bank are printing arithmetic, not information — and a wide gap between them is noise, not a finding.
Coverage rating 53 / 100 — Tight. ? Peer standing 21/50Direction 25/30Stability 8/20
GAAP earnings payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 37.7% |
| 2024-12-31 | 44.7% |
| 2023-12-31 | 62.7% |
| 2022-12-31 | 48.0% |
| 2021-12-31 | 26.2% |
| 2020-12-31 | 21.7% |
Among the 48 banks & insurers companies here, 42% pay out a larger share on this basis.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $3.85 ÷ diluted EPS $10.21
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-19 · accession 0000895421-26-000086
All public at sec.gov — you should not have to take our word for it.
Computed straight from SEC XBRL. A number that looks wrong to you is more useful to us than agreement — tell us.
What the GAAP earnings payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.
Also on: rated tight · when it files.
When this changes
Every figure above is recomputed whenever Morgan Stanley files. The monthly letter carries what filed, what moved, and one finding computed across every company here.