KB
KB Financial Group Inc.
KB offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
MS
Morgan Stanley
MS has the edge over KB overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger fundamentals.
KB Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
KB's revenue and profitability are currently healthy. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for financial services companies like KB.
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.
KB PE Valuation
KB has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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.
KB Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect KB'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 KB on the outlook, with more favorable revenue expectations.
KB Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $12.88 | +17% |
| Q1 2026 | $12.01 | +10% |
| Q4 2025 | $11.45 | +20% |
| Q3 2025 | $11.30 | +30% |
| Q2 2025 | $11.02 | +35% |
| Q1 2025 | $10.88 | +42% |
| Q4 2024 | $9.52 | +12% |
| Q3 2024 | $8.69 | +1.5% |
KB's earnings per share have climbed steadily: $12.88 over the past year, up 17% from the year before, and higher year over year for eight quarters in a row.
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 KB on earnings, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
KB Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $8.7B | +21% |
| Q1 2026 | $7.2B | +0.8% |
| Q4 2025 | $17B | +149% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.7B | -7.2% |
| Q2 2025 | $7.2B | +0.3% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.1B | -1.4% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.8B | -9.1% |
| Q3 2024 | $7.2B | +7.8% |
KB's revenue is growing: $8.7B last quarter, up 21% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 23% | -1 points |
| Q1 2026 | 27% | +3.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 7.1% | -3 points |
| Q3 2025 | 25% | +1.6 points |
| Q2 2025 | 24% | -0.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 24% | +9.8 points |
| Q4 2024 | 10% | +7.5 points |
| Q3 2024 | 24% | +2.4 points |
KB's operating margin was 23% last quarter, down 1 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 has the edge over KB on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| 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 KB on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
KB Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -$8.6B | -1683% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.1B | -48% |
| Q4 2025 | $5.4B | +$6.3B |
| Q3 2025 | -$9B | -$6.5B |
| Q2 2025 | $543.1M | +$1.3B |
| Q1 2025 | $2.1B | -69% |
| Q4 2024 | -$939.3M | +$109.7M |
| Q3 2024 | -$2.5B | -254% |
KB's free cash flow was −$11.1B over the past year, against −$761M the year before. Free cash flow isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like KB.
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 has the edge over KB on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
KB Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -5.2% | -19.6M shares |
| 1 year | -3% | -11.1M shares |
| 3 years | -8.9% | -35M shares |
| 5 years | -10% | -40M shares |
| Available history | -8.7% | -34.3M shares |
KB has the edge over MS on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $354.6M |
| Q1 2026 | $372.5M |
| Q4 2025 | $326.1M |
| Q3 2025 | $445.7M |
| Q2 2025 | $266.7M |
| Q1 2025 | $347.8M |
| Q4 2024 | $246.8M |
| Q3 2024 | $127.9M |
KB spent $1.5B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 52% from 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 1.6B diluted shares, down 1.5% from a year ago.
KB Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 16.0x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 13.6x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 0.0x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 13.3x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 12.1x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 12.5x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 13.9x | High |
| Q3 2024 | 15.3x | High |
KB's net debt is about 16 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 12 years a year ago. Net leverage isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like KB.
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 has the edge over KB on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
KB Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 47.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 7.8 | Oversold |
KB's weekly RSI is 48 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 8 (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).
KB PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | KB | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 13x | — |
KB has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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.
KB Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $118.1 | 4% below |
| 20 week MA | $120.3 | 5.7% below |
| 50 week MA | $108.6 | 4.4% above |
| 100 week MA | $89.9 | 26% above |
| 200 week MA | $69.1 | 64% above |
KB has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8- and 20-week averages, but 64% 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.
KB Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $41.9 | $40.9 | -2.5% |
| 2021 | $40.9 | $48.5 | +19% |
| 2022 | $48.5 | $40.4 | -17% |
| 2023 | $40.4 | $41.4 | +2.5% |
| 2024 | $41.4 | $57.7 | +39% |
| 2025 | $57.7 | $87.0 | +51% |
| 2026 YTD | $87.0 | $113.4 | +30% |
KB 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.