Morgan Stanley's first-quarter earnings plunged 30%, missing Wall Street's forecasts

• Morgan Stanley posted first-quarter earnings on Thursday that fell short of Wall Street's expectations.
• The bank's net revenues slid 8% to about $9.5 billion, contributing to a 30% drop in net income to $1.7 billion.
• Net revenue and net income fell across Morgan Stanley's three main divisions.
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Morgan Stanley posted first-quarter earnings on Thursday that fell short of the consensus estimates of Wall Street analysts polled by Bloomberg.

The banking titan's net revenues fell about 8% to roughly $9.5 billion, contributing to a 30% decline in net income to about $1.7 billion.

Morgan Stanley posted declines in net revenue and net income across its three main divisions.

Here are the key numbers:

• Revenue: $9.49 billion versus $9.68 billion expected
• Net income: $1.70 billion versus $1.82 billion expected
• Earnings per share: $1.01 versus $1.12 expected

"Over the past two months, we have witnessed more market volatility, uncertainty and anxiety as a result of the devastating COVID-19 than at any time since the financial crisis," Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said in the earnings release.

"While it's too early to predict how this will unfold, Morgan Stanley navigated the quarter well given the conditions, and our results bear testament to the strength of our balanced business model."

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Net revenues fell about 6% in the institutional securities division as a $1.1 billion loss from investments and other operations outweighed a 30% rise in sales and trading net revenues, which were bolstered by increased market volatility in the first three months of the year.

The wealth management division suffered an 8% drop in net revenues due to a sharp drop in transactional revenues. The segment's net income slumped 21% due to lower interest rates and higher mortgage securities expenses.

The investment management division also posted lower net revenues and net income, as an increase in asset management revenues was offset by lower revenues from investments.

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