MS vs SAN vs WFC Stock Comparison

Morgan Stanley, Banco Santander and Wells Fargo & Company Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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MS Morgan Stanley
$190.03 -1.5% 1M +15.9% 1Y
Market cap
$298.71B
P/E
14.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$80.16B
Div. yield
2.18%
Money Center Banks Financial Services
4 wins
SAN Banco Santander, S.A.
$11.76 -17.1% 1M +13.6% 1Y
Market cap
$172.75B
P/E
9.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$71.89B
Div. yield
2.38%
Money Center Banks Financial Services
6 wins
WFC Wells Fargo & Company/Mn
$84.81 +5.4% 1M -1.4% 1Y
Market cap
$254.59B
P/E
11.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$87.23B
Div. yield
2.18%
Money Center Banks Financial Services
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Banco Santander leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Banco Santander 6, Morgan Stanley 4, Wells Fargo & Company 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMSSANWFCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $298.71B $172.75B $254.59B MS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 14.9x 9.3x 11.6x SAN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 13.9x 10.8x 10.8x SAN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +16.2% +9.5% +5.4% MS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 26.2% 25.2% SAN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 15.1% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — -5.9x 2.8x SAN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 2.18% 2.38% 2.18% SAN
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +15.9% +13.6% -1.4% MS
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.1%/yr +25.4%/yr +10.6%/yr SAN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.5% 34.7% 25.6% WFC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 26/100 51/100 MS

Percentile Scorecard

MSSANWFC

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisMSSANWFC
Valuation 30 #252 of 361 23 #279 of 361 47 #191 of 361
Growth 94 #10 of 153 40 #92 of 153 53 #73 of 153
Profitability – 21 #102 of 128 65 #45 of 128
Financial Health – 1 #138 of 140 13 #122 of 140
Shareholder Returns 35 #219 of 335 43 #191 of 335 78 #74 of 335
Overall 53 26 51
  • MS ranked among 368 companies in Banking
  • SAN ranked among 368 companies in Banking
  • WFC ranked among 368 companies in Banking

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodMSSANWFCSPY
1 month -1.5%-17.1%+5.4% +0.7%
3 months -9.6%-16.7%-0.7% +3.7%
6 months -0.3%-3.5%+3.1% +7.1%
Year to date +7.0%+0.3%-9.0% +12.8%
1 year +15.9%+13.6%-1.4% +11.9%
3 years +169.2%+214.4%+115.1% +85.2%
3 years, per year +39.1%+46.5%+29.1% +22.8%
5 years +84.9%+210.3%+65.8% +67.6%
5 years, per year +13.1%+25.4%+10.6% +10.9%
10 years +466.9%+152.5%+83.5% +262.0%
10 years, per year +18.9%+9.7%+6.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMSSANWFCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.5%34.7%25.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.9%35.1%29.2% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.421.690.67 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.560.39-0.05 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.3%-42.0%-38.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -16.9%-21.8%-12.0% -1.2%
52-week high $228.55$15.03$96.39 $779.14
52-week low $154.37$10.01$73.42 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleMSSANWFC
P/E now vs peer median 14.9xmedian 12.2x 9.3xmedian 12.2x 11.6xmedian 12.2x
P/S now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 3.4x 2.4xmedian 3.4x 2.9xmedian 3.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 5.3x -9.4xmedian 5.3x 6.1xmedian 5.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median -16.3xmedian 10.8x -4.9xmedian 10.8x 8.8xmedian 10.8x
P/B now vs peer median —median 1.2x 1.3xmedian 1.2x 1.4xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.48median 1.34 0.39median 1.34 0.81median 1.34

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsMSSANWFC
Revenue $80.16B $71.89B $87.23B
Gross profit – -$3.71B –
Operating income – -$51.48B –
Net income – $20.00B $22.97B
Free cash flow – – $28.91B
EPS (diluted) $12.65 $1.26 $7.20
Total debt – $384.25B $221.04B
Shares (diluted) 1.57B 14.98B 3.05B
Enterprise value $298.71B -$504.84B $256.70B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricMSSANWFC
P/E 14.9x 9.3x 11.6x
P/FCF -16.3x -4.9x 8.8x
P/Operating cash flow – – 8.8x
P/S 3.7x 2.4x 2.9x
P/B – 1.3x 1.4x
P/Tangible book – 1.7x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA – -9.4x 6.1x
EV/EBIT – -9.1x 6.7x
EV/Revenue 3.7x 6.5x 5.5x
EV/FCF – – 16.5x
EV/Operating cash flow – – 16.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.48 0.39 0.81

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMSSANWFC
Revenue growth (1Y) 16.2% 9.5% 5.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.1% 6.1% 2.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – – –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -100.7% –
Net income growth (1Y) – 21.2% 9.1%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 17.5% 6.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 29.2% -83.5% 16.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 30.9% 23.8% 14.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – – 303.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – -0.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 303.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – -0.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMSSANWFC
Gross margin – -5.2% –
EBITDA margin – -68.9% 89.8%
Operating margin – -71.6% –
Pretax margin – 31.9% 31.7%
Net margin – 26.2% 25.2%
FCF margin – – 33.1%
Operating cash flow margin – – 33.1%
Return on equity – 27.7% 12.9%
Return on assets 1.2% 0.9% 1.0%
Return on invested capital – – 15.1%
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.0x 0.0x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – – 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMSSANWFC
Debt / assets – 16.1% 9.8%
Debt / equity – 2.9x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA – -5.9x 2.8x
Debt / FCF – – 7.6x
Liabilities / assets – 94.4% 92.1%
Equity / assets – 5.6% 7.9%
Interest coverage – – 1.6x
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMSSANWFC
Dividend yield 2.2% 2.4% 2.2%
Net buyback yield – – 5.5%
Shareholder yield 2.2% 2.4% 7.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 24.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 19.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 5.6%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 6.7%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusMSSANWFC
Forward P/E 13.9xFY2026 10.8xFY2026 10.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $13.66FY2026 $1.09FY2026 $7.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +33.8%FY2026 +2.8%FY2026 +24.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -4.2% +23.9% +7.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $80.05BFY2026 $76.20BFY2026 $94.32BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.3%FY2026 +3.5%FY2026 +12.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +13.3% -2.8% +4.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMSSANWFC
Held by institutions 85.7% 3.4% 76.8%
Institutions holding 2,744 661 2,879
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.5% +2.8% +1.1%
Institutions buying 1,470 404 1,293
Institutions selling 939 149 1,135
Buyers to sellers 1.57 2.71 1.14

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

MSSANWFC
MS 1.00 0.49 0.53
SAN 0.49 1.00 0.40
WFC 0.53 0.40 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MS, SAN and WFC?

Morgan Stanley (MS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Morgan Stanley (MS) $298.71B, Banco Santander (SAN) $172.75B, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) $254.59B.

Which stock is cheaper, MS, SAN and WFC?

Banco Santander (SAN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Morgan Stanley (MS) 14.9x, Banco Santander (SAN) 9.3x, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 11.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Banco Santander (SAN) is cheapest (Morgan Stanley (MS) 13.9x, Banco Santander (SAN) 10.8x, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 10.8x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Morgan Stanley (MS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Morgan Stanley (MS) +16.2%, Banco Santander (SAN) +9.5%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) +5.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Banco Santander (SAN) has the highest net margin (Banco Santander (SAN) 26.2%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 25.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Morgan Stanley (MS) returned the most: Morgan Stanley (MS) +15.9%, Banco Santander (SAN) +13.6%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) -1.4%. Over five years, Banco Santander (SAN) compounded fastest (Morgan Stanley (MS) +13.1%/yr, Banco Santander (SAN) +25.4%/yr, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) +10.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Banco Santander (SAN) has the highest dividend yield: Morgan Stanley (MS) 2.18%, Banco Santander (SAN) 2.38%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 2.18%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) has been the steadiest (Morgan Stanley (MS) 28.5%, Banco Santander (SAN) 34.7%, Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 25.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MS, SAN and WFC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Banco Santander (SAN) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.