Morgan Stanley analyst Michael Cyprys lowered his Q4 EPS estimates by 11% for the Asset Manager and Broker group given that the S&P 500 fell nearly 14% in the quarter, upending what had been a positive year for equity markets up until that point. For 2019, he favors the discount brokers - TD Ameritrade (AMTD), E-Trade (ETFC) and Charles Schwab (SCHW) - given their more defensive earnings profiles. Ahead of the Q4 earnings season he sees TD Ameritrade as "compelling" given its greater skew to trading revenues among the eBrokers, greater derivative mix and rising client cash levels, Cyprys tells investors. He also views concerns around commission price cuts as overdone as doe not expect Charles Schwab to cut, the analyst added. Ahead of Q4 reporting, Cyprys is negative on Virtu Financial (VIRT), as he thinks expectations are too high and notes the stock has recently outperformed.

Reports Q1 revenue $642.8M vs. 620.4M last year.