Moelis falls after Morgan Stanley downgrades to 'underweight' from 'overweight'

Investment bank Moelis' MC.N shares fall 3.5% to $57.98

Morgan Stanley double downgrades MC to "underweight" from "overweight"; cuts PT to $70 from $100, a 16.5% upside to stock's last close

Brokerage views MC as a way to play the bull in case of a capital markets rebound, which is now lower in probability

Says the expected 2025 capital markets rebound isn't playing out as uncertainty around tariffs pushes out deal launches

MS expected MC to underperform peers given the risk-off environment, but the stock has de-rated less than Jefferies JEF.N and Evercore EVR.N

Two of nine brokerages rate the stock "buy", five "hold" and two "sell" or lower; median PT is $84.50 - LSEG data

MC stock down 22% YTD while JEF and EVR have both fallen ~31%