Here's What Wall Street Thinks Of Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley MS reported net income of $0.39 per share, compared to a loss of $0.91 per share in the year prior.

The firm on Tuesday said it's looking to move its jobs in the next months to lower cost cities such as Budapest and Mumbai. The initiative will slash up to $1 billion by 2017 by executing technology and outsourcing jobs that are currently in its New York headquarters and other high cost cities.

Deutsche Bank has a Hold rating and $35.00 price target on the stock. In a note released Tuesday, the firm indicated that it sees some positives in Morgan Stanley's latest strategy update, however, its ROE target is "still aggressive."

"We also have a slightly more cautious revenue view (we est 5 percent growth in 2017 vs. 2015 vs. MS +6-10 percent). Our estimate considers an already solid/strong base for banking fees and equity trading and a fixed income franchise that's undergoing a number of changes," Deutsche Bank noted.

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Analysts at Barclays commented in a note on Wednesday that "MS exceeded much reduced expectations."

"Relative to 3Q15, strength in equities trading and equity underwriting, as well as higher revenues in Wealth Management and Investment Management, was offset by weakness in FICC and lower debt underwriting fees. In addition to earnings, MS unveiled its annual strategic update which included another FICC restructuring, incorporating further RWA shrinkage, and a large scale firm-wide expense initiative including a large reduction in force (in Dec.) and reduced comp-to-revenue targets," Barclays noted.

Credit Suisse sees Morgan Stanley's expectations as "low," with "OK" results.

"While said measures are meaningful, we are mindful of the high level of execution risk (see below for more) and expect wary investors ("we have seen this movie before"),in a difficult market environment, to heavily discount the ROE target," the firm commented.