FRST
Primis Financial Corp.
FRST has the edge over MS overall, supported by stronger valuation.
MS
Morgan Stanley
MS has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
FRST Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
FRST's revenue and profitability are currently healthy. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for financial services companies like FRST.
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.
FRST PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 6.6x | $14.64 | — |
| Cheap | 8.9x | $19.82 | +35% |
| Forward | 9.1x | $14.64 | — |
| Fair | 13x | $28.04 | +92% |
| Expensive | 53x | $117 | +697% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
FRST 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.
FRST Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly deteriorating | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for FRST, with profitability improving. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
MS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
MS has the edge over FRST on the outlook, with more favorable valuation expectations.
FRST Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.61 | -28% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.22 | +534% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.15 | +1692% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.87 | +1069% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.49 | +$3.15 |
| Q3 2025 | $0.35 | +$0.46 |
| Q2 2025 | $0.12 | +$0.52 |
| Q1 2025 | $0.16 | +$0.78 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.66 | -$0.28 |
FRST earned $2.22 per share over the past year, about six times what it earned 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 FRST on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
FRST Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $49.2M | +20% |
| Q2 2026 | $55.8M | +29% |
| Q1 2026 | $45.6M | -22% |
| Q4 2025 | $80.9M | +109% |
| Q3 2025 | $41M | +9.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $43.2M | +21% |
| Q1 2025 | $58.7M | +65% |
| Q4 2024 | $38.8M | +20% |
FRST's revenue is growing: $49M last quarter, up 20% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 22% | +0.9 points |
| Q2 2026 | 22% | +15 points |
| Q1 2026 | 23% | -19 points |
| Q4 2025 | 45% | +128 points |
| Q3 2025 | 21% | +24 points |
| Q2 2025 | 6.9% | -1 points |
| Q1 2025 | 42% | +38 points |
| Q4 2024 | -83% | -31 points |
FRST's operating margin was 22% last quarter, up 0.9 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 has the edge over FRST on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
FRST Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $78.8M | +$90.2M |
| Q2 2026 | -$6M | +$35M |
| Q1 2026 | -$54.6M | -259% |
| Q3 2025 | -$11.4M | -355% |
| Q2 2025 | -$41M | -181% |
| Q1 2025 | $34.4M | +$35.4M |
| Q4 2024 | -$35.7M | -152% |
| Q3 2024 | $4.5M | +$5.4M |
FRST has the stronger cash trend. Its trailing FCF is down 42% versus its history, compared with MS at down 492%.
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.
FRST Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | +11K shares |
| 1 year | +0.6% | +155K shares |
| 3 years | +0.6% | +157K shares |
| 5 years | +0.7% | +165K shares |
| Available history | +1.9% | +474K shares |
FRST has 25M diluted shares, up 0.6% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
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 FRST on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
FRST Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -1.8x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -2.1x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -2.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -1.6x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -3.5x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -17.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -9.4x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2023 | -7.1x | Net Cash |
FRST has the edge over MS on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
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.
FRST Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 44.2 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 6.2 | Oversold |
FRST's weekly RSI is 44 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 6 (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).
FRST PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | FRST | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 6.6x | 13x | 49% below |
| PE % | 3 | 63 | 60 pts below |
FRST 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.
FRST Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $15.2 | 3.4% below |
| 20 week MA | $15.7 | 6.7% below |
| 50 week MA | $14.6 | 0.3% above |
| 100 week MA | $12.5 | 17% above |
| 200 week MA | $11.6 | 27% above |
FRST has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8- and 20-week averages, but 27% above 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's trend is mixed: it's above three of its five weekly moving averages, and 46% above its 200-week average.
FRST Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $16.4 | $12.1 | -26% |
| 2021 | $12.1 | $15.0 | +24% |
| 2022 | $15.0 | $11.8 | -21% |
| 2023 | $11.8 | $12.7 | +7.7% |
| 2024 | $12.7 | $11.7 | -7.9% |
| 2025 | $11.7 | $13.0 | +12% |
| 2026 YTD | $13.0 | $14.6 | +12% |
FRST 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.