MS
Morgan Stanley
MS has the edge over NCDL overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger modeled upside.
NCDL
Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp.
NCDL trails on the overall score without a compensating advantage in the available component scores.
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.
NCDL Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| N/A | |
| N/A |
NCDL's revenue and profitability are currently healthy. Free cash flow and net leverage aren't meaningful measures for financial services companies like NCDL.
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.
NCDL PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 6.9x | $6.95 | -41% |
| Fair | 7.5x | $7.58 | -35% |
| Forward | 7.6x | $11.75 | — |
| Expensive | 9x | $9.13 | -22% |
| Current | 12x | $11.75 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NCDL has the edge over MS in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
MS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
MS has the edge over NCDL on the outlook, with more favorable earnings and revenue expectations.
NCDL Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Weakening | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect NCDL's profitability to weaken, with its earnings and revenue holding steady.
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 NCDL on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
NCDL Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.56 | +54% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.01 | -49% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.12 | -47% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.51 | -32% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.86 | -18% |
| Q3 2023 | $2.07 | +111% |
| Q2 2023 | $1.69 | +26% |
| Q1 2023 | $0.97 | -51% |
| Q4 2022 | $0.70 | -66% |
NCDL's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $1.01 over the past year, against $2.26 in late 2024.
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% |
NCDL has the stronger quarterly revenue trend. Revenue is up 12% for MS versus up 54% for NCDL.
| 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.
NCDL Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2022 | $20.1M | +54% |
| Q3 2022 | $14.2M | +38% |
| Q2 2022 | $16.5M | +120% |
| Q1 2022 | $14.2M | +125% |
| Q4 2021 | $13M | +162% |
| Q3 2021 | $10.3M | +232% |
| Q2 2021 | $7.5M | +175% |
| Q1 2021 | $6.3M | +116% |
NCDL's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since early 2021: $20M last quarter, up 54% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2022 | 36% | -57 points |
| Q3 2022 | 42% | -66 points |
| Q2 2022 | 9.2% | -94 points |
| Q1 2022 | 69% | -27 points |
| Q4 2021 | 93% | -3.2 points |
| Q3 2021 | 108% | -68 points |
| Q2 2021 | 104% | +161 points |
| Q1 2021 | 96% | +167 points |
NCDL's operating margin was 36% last quarter, down 57 points from the same quarter a year ago.
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.
NCDL Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $63.6M | +71% |
| Q2 2026 | $61M | -56% |
| Q1 2026 | -$13.7M | -$4.9M |
| Q4 2025 | $28.6M | +138% |
| Q3 2025 | $37.3M | +$79.5M |
| Q2 2025 | $137.1M | +$306.5M |
| Q1 2025 | -$8.8M | +$88.7M |
| Q4 2024 | $12M | +$146.7M |
NCDL has the edge over MS on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
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 NCDL on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
NCDL Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -- |
| 1 year | 0% | -16.6K shares |
| 3 years | +122% | +27.2M shares |
| 5 years | +1148% | +45.4M shares |
NCDL has 49M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | $2.7M |
| Q2 2025 | $26M |
| Q1 2025 | $37.1M |
| Q4 2024 | $22.5M |
NCDL hasn't bought back shares in the past year.
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.
NCDL Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2022 | 26.9x | High |
| Q3 2022 | 21.1x | High |
| Q2 2022 | 15.9x | High |
| Q1 2022 | 10.2x | High |
| Q4 2021 | 10.0x | High |
| Q3 2021 | 11.5x | High |
| Q2 2021 | 10.8x | High |
| Q1 2021 | 12.8x | High |
NCDL's net debt is more than 20 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 10 years a year ago. Net leverage isn't a meaningful measure for financial services companies like NCDL.
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).
NCDL Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 45.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 47.6 | Neutral |
NCDL's weekly RSI is 46 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 48 (neutral).
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.
NCDL PE vs Financial Services Sector
| Metric | NCDL | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 12x | 13x | 11% below |
| PE % | 99 | 36 | 63 pts above |
NCDL has the edge over MS on valuation relative to its sector.
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 stronger trend alignment. MS is above 3 of 5 weekly averages versus NCDL above 1 of 4.
NCDL Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $11.2 | 5.1% above |
| 20 week MA | $11.9 | 1.5% below |
| 50 week MA | $12.9 | 8.6% below |
| 100 week MA | $14.4 | 19% below |
NCDL has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-week average, but 19% below its 100-week average.
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 NCDL on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
NCDL Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $17.9 | $17.1 | -4.4% |
| 2025 | $17.1 | $13.8 | -19% |
| 2026 YTD | $13.8 | $11.8 | -15% |
NCDL has finished every year since 2024 lower, and it's down 15% so far in 2026.