ARM
Arm Holdings plc American Depositary Shares
ARM has the edge over MS overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
MS
Morgan Stanley
MS has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
ARM Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
ARM's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
MS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
MS's revenue and profitability are currently healthy. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for financial services companies like MS.
ARM PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 167x | $147 | -27% |
| Fair | 224x | $197 | -1.4% |
| Current | 227x | $200 | — |
| Expensive | 361x | $317 | +59% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ARM has the edge over MS in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
MS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 11x | $134 | -29% |
| Fair | 14x | $178 | -5.7% |
| Forward | 14x | $189 | — |
| Current | 15x | $189 | — |
| Expensive | 18x | $223 | +18% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
MS's PE is in its fair range at 15x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 14x next year's earnings.
ARM Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for ARM, with profitability improving.
MS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for MS, with profitability improving.
ARM Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $0.88 | +13% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.98 | +48% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.85 | +13% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.75 | -1.3% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.78 | +30% |
| Q1 2025 | $0.75 | +159% |
| Q4 2024 | $0.76 | +850% |
| Q3 2024 | $0.60 | +233% |
ARM earned $0.88 per share over the past year, up 13% from the year before.
MS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $13.39 | +6.3% |
| Q3 2026 | $12.60 | +29% |
| Q2 2026 | $12.37 | +40% |
| Q1 2026 | $11.04 | +29% |
| Q4 2025 | $10.21 | +28% |
| Q3 2025 | $9.76 | +48% |
| Q2 2025 | $8.84 | +45% |
| Q1 2025 | $8.53 | +55% |
| Q4 2024 | $7.95 | +53% |
MS has the edge over ARM on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
ARM Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.4B | +27% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.3B | +22% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.5B | +20% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.2B | +26% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.1B | +34% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.1B | +12% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.2B | +34% |
| Q4 2024 | $983M | +19% |
ARM has the edge over MS on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 14% | -0.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 7.1% | -3.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 29% | -3.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 15% | -2.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 14% | +6.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | -8.5 points |
| Q1 2025 | 33% | +31 points |
| Q4 2024 | 18% | +1.5 points |
ARM's operating margin was 14% last quarter, about level with the same quarter a year ago.
MS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $20.3B | +12% |
| Q2 2026 | $21.3B | +27% |
| Q1 2026 | $20.6B | +16% |
| Q4 2025 | $17.9B | +10% |
| Q3 2025 | $18.2B | +18% |
| Q2 2025 | $16.8B | +12% |
| Q1 2025 | $17.7B | +17% |
| Q4 2024 | $16.2B | +26% |
MS's revenue has grown year over year for 14 quarters in a row: $20.3B last quarter, up 12% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 32% | -1.2 points |
| Q2 2026 | 34% | +6.9 points |
| Q1 2026 | 34% | +2.8 points |
| Q4 2025 | 32% | +2 points |
| Q3 2025 | 33% | +5.6 points |
| Q2 2025 | 28% | +0.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 31% | +2.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 30% | +14 points |
MS has the edge over ARM on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
ARM Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $135M | -69% |
| Q2 2026 | $705M | +296% |
| Q1 2026 | $186M | +1.1% |
| Q4 2025 | $186M | -48% |
| Q3 2025 | $429M | +$476M |
| Q2 2025 | $178M | +$497M |
| Q1 2025 | $184M | -72% |
| Q4 2024 | $360M | +25% |
ARM has the edge over MS on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
MS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$46B | -$42.7B |
| Q2 2026 | -$2.7B | -123% |
| Q1 2026 | -$7.1B | +$16.9B |
| Q4 2025 | -$2.4B | -120% |
| Q3 2025 | -$3.3B | +$14B |
| Q2 2025 | $11.8B | +368% |
| Q1 2025 | -$24B | -650% |
| Q4 2024 | $11.8B | +$29.6B |
MS's free cash flow was −$58.3B over the past year, against −$3.7B the year before. Free cash flow isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like MS.
ARM Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.1% | +1M shares |
| 1 year | +0.9% | +10M shares |
| 3 years | +5.2% | +53.7M shares |
ARM has 1.1B diluted shares, up 0.9% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q1 2023 | — |
| Q4 2022 | — |
| Q3 2022 | — |
| Q2 2022 | — |
MS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -3M shares |
| 1 year | -1.5% | -24M shares |
| 3 years | -4.7% | -77M shares |
| 5 years | -14% | -246M shares |
| Available history | -4.5% | -74M shares |
MS has the edge over ARM on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
ARM Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2023 | -1.6x | Net Cash |
ARM has more cash than debt.
MS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.8x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 7.3x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 8.2x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 8.6x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 8.4x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 8.7x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 8.7x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 7.9x | High |
MS's net debt is about 7.8 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 8.4 years a year ago. Net leverage isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like MS.
ARM Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 43.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 11.0 | Oversold |
ARM's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 11 (oversold).
MS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 45.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 18.7 | Oversold |
MS's weekly RSI is 45 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 19 (oversold).
ARM PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | ARM | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 227x | 28x | 715% above |
| PE % | 51 | 23 | 28 pts above |
ARM is trading at 227x earnings, a 715% premium to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
MS PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | MS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 15x | 13x | 15% above |
| PE % | 59 | 63 | 4 pts below |
MS has the edge over ARM on valuation relative to its sector.
ARM Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $237.8 | 16% below |
| 20 week MA | $257.3 | 22% below |
| 50 week MA | $213.9 | 6.6% below |
| 100 week MA | $176.5 | 13% above |
MS has stronger trend alignment. ARM is above 1 of 4 weekly averages versus MS above 3 of 5.
MS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $186.5 | 1.5% above |
| 20 week MA | $203.3 | 6.9% below |
| 50 week MA | $191.9 | 1.4% below |
| 100 week MA | $164.9 | 15% above |
| 200 week MA | $129.3 | 46% above |
MS's trend is mixed: it's above three of its five weekly moving averages, and 46% above its 200-week average.
ARM Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $60.8 | $75.2 | +24% |
| 2024 | $75.2 | $129.2 | +72% |
| 2025 | $129.2 | $110.3 | -15% |
| 2026 YTD | $110.3 | $199.8 | +81% |
ARM has the edge over MS on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
MS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $51.1 | $68.1 | +33% |
| 2021 | $68.1 | $99.3 | +46% |
| 2022 | $99.3 | $86.1 | -13% |
| 2023 | $86.1 | $93.3 | +8.3% |
| 2024 | $93.3 | $126.8 | +36% |
| 2025 | $126.8 | $181.9 | +43% |
| 2026 YTD | $181.9 | $189.2 | +4% |
MS has finished higher in five of the last six years. It's up 4% so far in 2026.