ALLY vs MS Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
ALLY (Ally Financial) and MS (Morgan Stanley) represent different financial services models — Ally is a digital-only bank focused on high-yield consumer savings and auto lending (its core product) serving cost-conscious depositors and auto loan borrowers, while Morgan Stanley is a comprehensive financial institution integrating investment banking, institutional trading, advisor-led wealth management, and E*TRADE's self-directed brokerage into a full financial services platform.
ALLY vs MS is digital banking simplicity (Ally's focused high-yield savings and auto lending model with branchless cost efficiency) versus integrated financial services breadth (Morgan Stanley's investment banking plus wealth management expansion through E*TRADE creating multiple revenue streams across market cycles) — focused banking products versus comprehensive financial services.
MS holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. MS has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+11.96% vs -4.96%), though ALLY has the better forward P/E setup (6.06x 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 meaningfully more upside for ALLY (+32.29%) than for MS (+10.17%).
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 digital banking exposure with a company that has consistently offered among the highest savings rates through a branchless cost structure, attracting rate-sensitive depositors
- Value Ally's auto lending expertise from its GMAC heritage as a differentiated, scale-competitive position in the largest category of consumer installment loans in the U.S.
- Accept auto loan credit cycle risk as a periodic headwind while believing Ally's digital banking model provides a durable cost structure advantage over traditional branch banks
- Want diversified financial services including investment banking cyclicality balanced by growing recurring wealth management fee revenue from both advisor and E*TRADE self-directed clients
- Value Morgan Stanley's transformation toward more stable fee income through acquisitions as improving earnings quality relative to its historically trading-and-banking-cycle-driven revenue mix
- Prefer a comprehensive financial institution with global investment banking credentials, institutional trading, and wealth management across client segments versus a focused digital bank
| Metric | ALLY | MS |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 38.5 | 63.0 |
| AI ranki | #1233 | #86 |
| Latest closei | $37.73 | $182.10 |
| 1M returni | -9.26% | -11.72% |
| 3M returni | -19.38% | -16.61% |
| 6M returni | -10.08% | -2.79% |
| 1Y returni | -4.96% | +11.96% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | ALLY | MS |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.81K (-1.9%) started 2025-10-16 | $11.38K (+13.8%) started 2025-10-16 |
| 5Y ago | $6.88K (-31.2%) started 2021-10-18 | $23.45K (+134.5%) started 2021-10-18 |
| 10Y ago | $19.52K (+95.2%) started 2016-10-17 | $97.85K (+878.5%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | ALLY | MS |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $11.43B | $337.31B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 8.84 | 17.36 |
| Forward P/Ei | 6.06 | 15.75 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 3.31 |
| EV/Revenuei | 3.61 | 2.78 |
| Analyst targeti | $49.73 | $236.62 |
| Target upsidei | +32.29% | +10.17% |
| Metric | ALLY | MS |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 11.00% | 28.00% |
| Earnings growthi | 13.50% | 62.40% |
| EPS growthi | +13.50% | +62.40% |
| FCF margini | N/A | N/A |
| Operating margini | 25.27% | 41.57% |
| Profit margini | 18.41% | 25.90% |
| ROIC proxyi | 9.68% | 17.97% |
| Return on equityi | 9.68% | 17.97% |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.19% | 2.14% |
| Payout ratioi | 28.24% | 32.31% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.10 | 1.21 |
| Debt/equityi | N/A | 517.28 |
| Current ratioi | N/A | 2.00 |
| Quick ratioi | N/A | 1.60 |
Over the past year, ALLY and MS have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.53), 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 | ALLY | MS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -1.87% | +13.80% |
| CAGRi | -1.88% | +13.83% | |
| Volatilityi | 28.45% | 27.97% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.08 | 0.44 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.12 | 0.63 | |
| Max drawdowni | 23.59% | 20.58% | |
| Current drawdowni | 20.15% | 20.32% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 8.81% | 5.79% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 10.68% | 8.09% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.96% | 6.19% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 8.81% | 8.42% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -31.22% | +104.47% |
| CAGRi | -7.22% | +15.40% | |
| Volatilityi | 38.24% | 28.81% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.12 | 0.49 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.18 | 0.70 | |
| Max drawdowni | 60.06% | 32.38% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.40% | 20.32% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 33.94% | 10.80% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 36.11% | 13.72% | |
| Max daily dropi | 17.62% | 9.51% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.32% | 13.51% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +95.19% | +636.99% |
| CAGRi | +6.92% | +22.12% | |
| Volatilityi | 39.45% | 31.41% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.25 | 0.65 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.36 | 0.96 | |
| Max drawdowni | 66.62% | 51.33% | |
| Current drawdowni | 32.80% | 20.32% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 23.56% | 11.13% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 28.96% | 14.67% | |
| Max daily dropi | 23.21% | 15.60% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 43.12% | 26.49% |
| Category | ALLY | MS |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Ally Financial Inc. | Morgan Stanley |
| Sector | Financial Services | Financial Services |
| Industry | Credit Services | Capital Markets |
| Core business | Ally Financial is a leading digital-only bank with no physical branch network — offering high-yield savings accounts, online checking, auto loans (its heritage from GMAC, the former General Motors financing arm), mortgage loans, credit cards, and investment accounts. Ally Bank consistently offers among the highest savings rates of any major U.S. bank because its branchless model has significantly lower operating costs. | Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm providing investment banking, institutional trading, wealth management (including E*TRADE self-directed brokerage), and investment management. The 2020 E*TRADE acquisition and 2021 Eaton Vance acquisition significantly expanded Morgan Stanley's wealth and asset management revenue, reducing dependence on investment banking cycle volatility. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Ally's net interest margin (spread between deposit costs and loan yields), auto loan portfolio quality (delinquencies and net charge-offs — a significant risk given credit cycle dynamics in automotive lending), deposits growth, and the capital returns through dividends and buybacks. | Investors evaluate Morgan Stanley's wealth management client assets and net new assets, investment banking revenue cycle (M&A advisory, IPOs, debt issuance), trading revenue, and the strategy of transforming Morgan Stanley from a trading/banking-led firm to a more fee-based wealth management company through the E*TRADE and Eaton Vance acquisitions. |
- No-branch digital bank cost efficiency — Ally's lack of physical branches reduces operating costs dramatically versus traditional banks, enabling higher savings rates that attract deposits without costly real estate and branch staff
- Auto lending expertise and market share — as the former GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation), Ally has decades of auto lending experience and deep dealer relationships across the U.S., maintaining strong auto loan market share
- High-yield savings competitive position — Ally consistently offers savings rates among the highest in the industry, creating a loyal direct deposit customer base that values high-yield digital banking
- Wealth management transformation — Morgan Stanley's acquisitions have shifted revenue toward recurring fee-based wealth management, improving earnings quality and reducing the cyclicality from investment banking deal flow
- E*TRADE self-directed brokerage complements advisor services — mass-affluent E*TRADE clients can be served digitally and may graduate to full advisory relationships as their wealth grows
- Global investment banking franchise — Morgan Stanley's M&A advisory, IPO underwriting, and capital markets capabilities serve the world's largest companies and generate transaction fees when market activity is high
- Auto loan credit quality is cyclical — Ally's auto loan portfolio includes subprime borrowers; rising unemployment or economic recession can increase delinquencies and charge-offs, creating credit losses that impact earnings
- Net interest margin compression — when deposit rates rise (as they did in 2022-2024), Ally must pay more to retain deposits competing with other high-yield savings options, which can compress the spread over fixed-rate auto loans
- Competitive pressure from other digital banks — Marcus (Goldman Sachs), SoFi, and other digital banks compete for the same high-yield savings customers, requiring Ally to maintain competitive rates
- Investment banking cycle exposure — M&A and IPO activity is highly cyclical; capital markets slowdowns significantly reduce Morgan Stanley's investment banking revenue
- Ultra-high-net-worth advisor competition — Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Private Bank, and other firms compete aggressively for Morgan Stanley's advisor relationships and the wealthiest clients
- Integration complexity of multiple large acquisitions — integrating E*TRADE and Eaton Vance simultaneously requires significant technology and operational management attention
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