COLB
Columbia Banking System, Inc.
COLB has a slight edge over MS overall, supported by stronger valuation.
MS
Morgan Stanley
MS has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
COLB Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
COLB's revenue and profitability are currently healthy. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for financial services companies like COLB.
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.
COLB PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 9.4x | $30.59 | — |
| Cheap | 9.5x | $27.84 | -9% |
| Current | 10x | $30.59 | — |
| Fair | 11x | $32.87 | +7.5% |
| Expensive | 13x | $39.02 | +28% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
COLB 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.
COLB Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect COLB's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady.
MS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
MS has the edge over COLB on the outlook, with more favorable revenue expectations.
COLB Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $3.26 | +11% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.93 | +31% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.55 | +0.8% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.55 | +7.6% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.30 | -9.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.23 | -8.6% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.53 | +5.9% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.37 | -3.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.55 | +43% |
COLB earned $2.93 per share over the past year, up 31% 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 COLB on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
COLB Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $695M | +19% |
| Q2 2026 | $677M | +33% |
| Q1 2026 | $677M | +38% |
| Q4 2025 | $717M | +47% |
| Q3 2025 | $582M | +17% |
| Q2 2025 | $510.9M | +8.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $491.4M | +3.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $487.1M | -6.2% |
COLB's revenue has grown year over year for seven quarters in a row: $695M last quarter, up 19% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2022 | 46% | +13 points |
| Q3 2022 | 44% | +1.1 points |
| Q2 2022 | 43% | -3.5 points |
| Q1 2022 | 43% | -0.8 points |
| Q4 2021 | 33% | -16 points |
| Q3 2021 | 42% | +5.3 points |
| Q2 2021 | 47% | +19 points |
| Q1 2021 | 44% | +31 points |
COLB's operating margin was 46% last quarter, up 13 points from 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's operating margin was 32% last quarter, down 1.2 points from the same quarter a year ago.
COLB Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $365M | +55% |
| Q2 2026 | $295M | +176% |
| Q1 2026 | $494M | +305% |
| Q4 2025 | $281M | +9.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $236.2M | +251% |
| Q2 2025 | $106.8M | -29% |
| Q1 2025 | $122M | -34% |
| Q3 2024 | $67.2M | -81% |
COLB 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.
COLB Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -2.1% | -6.1M shares |
| 1 year | +17% | +41.4M shares |
| 3 years | +34% | +71.7M shares |
| 5 years | +294% | +209M shares |
| Available history | +289% | +208M shares |
COLB has 280M diluted shares, up 17% from a year ago, despite $721M in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $203M |
| Q2 2026 | $203M |
| Q1 2026 | $215M |
| Q4 2025 | $100M |
| Q3 2025 | $399,000 |
| Q2 2025 | $1.9M |
| Q1 2025 | $6.7M |
| Q4 2024 | $81,000 |
COLB spent $721M buying back its own shares over the past year, more than ten times what it spent the year before.
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 COLB on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
COLB Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2022 | -0.8x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2022 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2022 | -1.3x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2022 | -3.3x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2021 | -2.9x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2021 | -3.0x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2021 | -2.9x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2021 | -3.5x | Net Cash |
COLB has more cash than debt. Net leverage isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like COLB.
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.
COLB Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 52.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 56.8 | Neutral |
COLB's weekly RSI is 53 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 57 (neutral).
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).
COLB PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | COLB | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 10x | 13x | 20% below |
| PE % | 31 | 63 | 32 pts below |
COLB has the edge over MS on valuation relative to its sector.
MS PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | MS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 15x | 13x | 15% above |
| PE % | 59 | 63 | 4 pts below |
MS is trading at 15x earnings, a 15% premium to the Financial Services sector's median of 13x.
COLB Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $29.8 | 2.8% above |
| 20 week MA | $30.7 | 0.2% below |
| 50 week MA | $29.8 | 2.7% above |
| 100 week MA | $27.6 | 11% above |
| 200 week MA | $25.2 | 21% above |
COLB has the edge over MS on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
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.
COLB Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $40.8 | $34.7 | -15% |
| 2021 | $34.7 | $32.3 | -6.8% |
| 2022 | $32.3 | $29.5 | -8.8% |
| 2023 | $29.5 | $26.7 | -9.6% |
| 2024 | $26.7 | $27.1 | +1.7% |
| 2025 | $27.1 | $28.6 | +5.3% |
| 2026 YTD | $28.6 | $30.6 | +7% |
COLB 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.