FDUS
Fidus Investment Corporation
FDUS trails on the overall score without a compensating advantage in the available component scores.
MS
Morgan Stanley
MS has the edge over FDUS overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger modeled upside.
FDUS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Under pressure | |
| Strong | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
FDUS's profitability is currently strong, but its revenue is under pressure. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for financial services companies like FDUS.
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.
FDUS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 4.9x | $10.88 | -44% |
| Fair | 8.6x | $19.02 | -1.5% |
| Current | 8.7x | $19.32 | — |
| Forward | 9.6x | $19.32 | — |
| Expensive | 11x | $23.21 | +20% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
FDUS's PE is in its fair range at 8.7x. On analysts' estimates for next year's earnings, today's price would be 9.6x, in its expensive range.
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 has the edge over FDUS in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
FDUS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Deteriorating | |
| Stable | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly weakening | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect FDUS's revenue to grow, but its profitability to weaken.
MS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
MS has the edge over FDUS on the outlook, with more favorable valuation and earnings expectations.
FDUS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.01 | -9% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.21 | +5.2% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.16 | -4% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.20 | -2.2% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.08 | -9.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.10 | -9.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.25 | -2.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.25 | -8.2% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.29 | -7.3% |
FDUS's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $2.21 over the past year, against $4.76 in early 2022.
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 FDUS on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
FDUS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2022 | $17.2M | -50% |
| Q2 2022 | $14.1M | -56% |
| Q1 2022 | $17.4M | -13% |
| Q4 2021 | $60.3M | +67% |
| Q3 2021 | $34.5M | +29% |
| Q2 2021 | $31.6M | +124% |
| Q4 2020 | $36.1M | +38% |
MS has the stronger quarterly revenue trend. Revenue is down 50% for FDUS versus up 12% for MS.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2022 | 66% | -16 points |
| Q2 2022 | 58% | -24 points |
| Q1 2022 | 67% | +9.2 points |
| Q4 2021 | 88% | +5.3 points |
| Q3 2021 | 82% | +4.4 points |
| Q2 2021 | 82% | +24 points |
| Q1 2021 | 58% | N/A |
| Q4 2020 | 82% | +4.7 points |
FDUS's operating margin was 66% last quarter, down 16 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.
FDUS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $5.8M | +$37.7M |
| Q2 2026 | -$41.9M | -205% |
| Q1 2026 | -$32.6M | +$17.6M |
| Q4 2025 | -$104.8M | -611% |
| Q3 2025 | -$31.9M | -782% |
| Q2 2025 | $39.9M | +$42.6M |
| Q1 2025 | -$50.2M | +$27.6M |
| Q4 2024 | $20.5M | +512% |
FDUS has the edge over MS on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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.
FDUS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +2.5% | +949K shares |
| 1 year | +8.9% | +3.2M shares |
| 3 years | +46% | +12.3M shares |
| 5 years | +59% | +14.5M shares |
| Available history | +59% | +14.4M shares |
FDUS has 39M diluted shares, up 8.9% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2022 | — |
| Q2 2022 | — |
| Q1 2022 | — |
| Q4 2021 | — |
| Q3 2021 | — |
| Q2 2021 | — |
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q4 2020 | — |
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 FDUS on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
FDUS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2022 | 4.1x | High |
| Q2 2022 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q1 2022 | 2.5x | Moderate |
| Q4 2021 | 1.7x | Healthy |
| Q3 2021 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q2 2021 | 3.3x | Elevated |
| Q1 2021 | 4.1x | High |
| Q4 2020 | 9.6x | High |
FDUS's net debt is about 4.1 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 2.6 years a year ago. Net leverage isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like FDUS.
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.
FDUS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 50.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 49.6 | Neutral |
FDUS's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 50 (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).
FDUS PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | FDUS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 8.7x | 13x | 33% below |
| PE % | 53 | 63 | 10 pts below |
FDUS 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.
FDUS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $19.2 | 0.8% above |
| 20 week MA | $19.5 | 1% below |
| 50 week MA | $19.1 | 1.4% above |
| 100 week MA | $19.9 | 2.8% below |
| 200 week MA | $19.8 | 2.2% below |
FDUS's trend is mixed: it's above two of its five weekly moving averages, and 2.2% below its 200-week average.
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 has the edge over FDUS on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
FDUS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $15.0 | $12.6 | -16% |
| 2021 | $12.6 | $17.9 | +42% |
| 2022 | $17.9 | $19.0 | +6% |
| 2023 | $19.0 | $19.7 | +3.7% |
| 2024 | $19.7 | $20.9 | +5.9% |
| 2025 | $20.9 | $19.4 | -6.8% |
| 2026 YTD | $19.4 | $19.3 | -0.6% |
FDUS has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's down 0.6% so far in 2026.
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 the edge over FDUS on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.