After Morgan Stanley reported earnings results earlier this week, shares tumbled the most in more than three years.
The rout was so sharp it made Steven Chubak rethink his recommendation on the stock. The Wolfe Research analyst raised his rating on the bank to peerperform on Friday, leaving Morgan Stanley without any bearish calls on the Street. Chubak cited an improved risk-reward given where the stock is currently trading.
“Following recent share underperformance, shares appear fairly valued, with earnings risk better reflected in consensus,” he wrote in a note. Chubak had the only sell-equivalent recommendation among more than two dozen analysts covering the firm, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Read More: Morgan Stanley Shares Plunge After Profit Drops on Slowdown
Morgan Stanley joins big-bank peers JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in not having a bearish analyst on the Street. After the upgrade, the stock eked out a 0.3% gain, outperforming the banking sector which tumbled Friday.
Read More: Goldman’s Last Bearish Analyst Upgrades Stock as Risks Fade
Chubak said that Morgan Stanley has been the worst performer since the start of earnings. The stock’s 6.8% drop on Wednesday was the sharpest reaction to this season’s earnings among its large-bank peers. It was the stock’s worst one-day drop since June 2020.
(Adds Friday stock move in penultimate paragraph.)
