BAC vs MS Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Bank of America and Morgan Stanley both offer wealth management exposure, but Bank of America is a broadly diversified consumer and commercial bank with Merrill wealth management as one segment among several, while Morgan Stanley is more concentrated in investment banking, institutional securities, and a large, growing wealth management business as its primary focus.
Bank of America offers diversified exposure across consumer banking, wealth management, and institutional banking with a large, stable deposit base, while Morgan Stanley offers more concentrated exposure to wealth management fee income and investment banking, with less traditional consumer lending diversification. Consider whether you prefer Bank of America's diversified banking model or Morgan Stanley's wealth-management-and-investment-banking focus.
MS holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. MS has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+31.69% vs +17.65%), though BAC has the better forward P/E setup (11.84x vs 15.75x for MS). MS leads on both revenue growth (28.00%) and operating margin (41.57%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: +10.07% for BAC and +10.17% for MS.
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want diversified exposure across consumer banking, wealth management, and institutional banking
- Value Bank of America's large, stable deposit base as a funding advantage
- Prefer a bank with significant traditional consumer and commercial lending diversification
- Believe continued efficiency improvements can help narrow any performance gap to top-tier peers
- Want concentrated exposure to wealth management fee income and investment banking advisory
- Value the more stable, recurring revenue characteristics of a growing wealth management business
- Are comfortable with less diversification into traditional consumer and commercial lending
- Believe continued growth in assets under management will drive fee revenue expansion
| Metric | BAC | MS |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 54.3 | 65.2 |
| AI ranki | #303 | #79 |
| Latest closei | $59.52 | $206.28 |
| 1M returni | -7.71% | -5.10% |
| 6M returni | +25.89% | +30.70% |
| 1Y returni | +17.65% | +31.69% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | BAC | MS |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $11.75K (+17.5%) started 2025-09-16 | $13.24K (+32.4%) started 2025-09-16 |
| 5Y ago | $17.66K (+76.6%) started 2021-09-17 | $26.47K (+164.7%) started 2021-09-17 |
| 10Y ago | $56.95K (+469.5%) started 2016-09-19 | $111.51K (+1015.1%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | BAC | MS |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $438.38B | $337.31B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 14.48 | 17.36 |
| Forward P/Ei | 11.84 | 15.75 |
| Price/Salesi | 3.48 | 3.31 |
| EV/Revenuei | 3.37 | 2.78 |
| Analyst targeti | $69.00 | $236.62 |
| Target upsidei | +10.07% | +10.17% |
| Metric | BAC | MS |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 16.80% | 28.00% |
| Earnings growthi | 34.10% | 62.40% |
| EPS growthi | +34.10% | +62.40% |
| FCF margini | N/A | N/A |
| Operating margini | 38.30% | 41.57% |
| Profit margini | 29.52% | 25.90% |
| ROIC proxyi | 11.20% | 17.97% |
| Return on equityi | 11.20% | 17.97% |
| Dividend yieldi | 2.04% | 2.14% |
| Payout ratioi | 25.87% | 32.31% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.16 | 1.21 |
| Debt/equityi | N/A | 517.28 |
| Current ratioi | N/A | 2.00 |
| Quick ratioi | N/A | 1.60 |
Over the past year, BAC and MS have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.67), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | BAC | MS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +17.49% | +32.39% |
| CAGRi | +17.53% | +32.47% | |
| Volatilityi | 21.85% | 28.14% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.64 | 0.98 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.87 | 1.42 | |
| Max drawdowni | 18.39% | 19.28% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.16% | 9.74% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.08% | 4.56% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.14% | 6.55% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.14% | 6.19% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 7.04% | 8.42% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +60.79% | +130.85% |
| CAGRi | +9.97% | +18.23% | |
| Volatilityi | 26.67% | 28.94% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.32 | 0.57 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.46 | 0.83 | |
| Max drawdowni | 46.64% | 32.38% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.16% | 9.74% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 17.45% | 10.62% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 22.35% | 13.57% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.06% | 9.51% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 16.63% | 13.51% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +362.01% | +739.87% |
| CAGRi | +16.55% | +23.74% | |
| Volatilityi | 30.48% | 31.41% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.51 | 0.69 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.74 | 1.02 | |
| Max drawdowni | 48.95% | 51.33% | |
| Current drawdowni | 8.16% | 9.74% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 13.79% | 11.01% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 18.82% | 14.59% | |
| Max daily dropi | 15.40% | 15.60% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 24.86% | 26.49% |
| Category | BAC | MS |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Bank of America Corporation | Morgan Stanley |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Banks - Diversified | Capital Markets |
| Core business | One of the largest US banks by assets, operating a universal banking model spanning consumer banking, global wealth and investment management (Merrill), and global banking and markets. | A global financial services firm focused on investment banking, institutional securities trading, and a large, growing wealth and investment management business built partly through acquisitions. |
| Investor focus | Net interest income trends, consumer banking deposit and loan growth, wealth management (Merrill) fee income, and efficiency ratio improvement. | Wealth management assets under management (AUM) growth and fee revenue, investment banking deal activity, and margin expansion in wealth management. |
- Large, diversified consumer banking franchise with substantial deposit base providing a stable funding advantage
- Merrill wealth management business provides a growing, fee-based recurring revenue stream
- Scale and diversification across consumer, wealth management, and institutional banking segments
- Large, growing wealth management business provides more stable, fee-based recurring revenue than pure trading businesses
- Strong position in investment banking advisory and underwriting for institutional clients
- Diversification between wealth management fee income and more cyclical institutional securities revenue
- Net interest income is sensitive to interest rate changes and the shape of the yield curve
- Consumer banking segment exposed to credit quality trends tied to broader economic conditions
- Efficiency ratio and cost discipline remain ongoing areas of investor focus relative to top-performing peers
- Investment banking and trading revenue can be volatile, tied to capital markets activity and deal flow cycles
- Wealth management growth depends partly on market performance affecting assets under management
- Smaller consumer/commercial banking presence than Bank of America, limiting diversification into traditional lending
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