Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund MSDL

FinancialsInvestment Banking & Investment ServicesUnited States of America

Last close 13.87 USD on Nov 1, 2026, −7.6% year to date

Quant rating

Quant rating C Rank 408 of 799 in Financials

Growth D 599 of 799
Valuation C 400 of 799
Quality A 95 of 799
Revisions B 191 of 799
Momentum D 664 of 799

Wall Street consensus Hold (2.71)Average target 15.79 USD +13.9%

Historical valuation

Multiples use consensus estimates for the next twelve months. The dashed line is the 5-year average.

Key data

Market cap: 1.2B
Enterprise value: 3.1B
52-week range: 12.71 – 17.87
3-year range: 12.71 – 23.89
Dividend yield: 12.98%
Beta (5 years): –
Shares outstanding: 84.1M
Next earnings: Nov 5, 2026

About the company

Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund is a non-diversified, externally managed specialty finance company focused on lending to middle-market companies. The Company's investment objective is to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns via current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation by investing primarily in directly originated senior secured term loans issued by United States middle-market companies in which private equity sponsors have a controlling equity stake in the portfolio company. It invests primarily in directly originated senior secured term loans, including first lien senior secured term loans (including unitranche loans) and second lien senior secured term loans. Its wholly owned subsidiaries include DLF CA SPV LLC, DLF SPV LLC, DLF Financing SPV LLC, and DLF Equity Holdings LLC, among others. The Company's investment adviser is MS Capital Partners Adviser Inc.

Growth and profitability fiscal year ends December 31

Growth and profitability by fiscal year
	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	5Y avg
Revenue (mil)	397	416	368	231	120	–
Revenue growth	−4.5%	13.1%	59.5%	92.5%	447.0%	78.5%
EPS (basic, normalized)	2.14	2.48	2.67	–	–	–
EPS growth	−13.7%	−7.1%	–	–	–	–
Gross margin	47.1%	51.5%	49.6%	48.8%	56.2%	50.6%
Net margin	30.7%	51.8%	62.8%	21.1%	69.5%	47.2%
ROE	9.8%	12.4%	12.7%	–	–	11.6%

Balance sheet, last quarter
Cash & short-term investments (mil)	57.2
Current ratio	–
Long-term debt (mil)	1,982
Net debt (mil)	1,925
Total equity (mil)	1,648
Net debt / equity	1.17x

Estimates and valuation

Consensus estimates and implied multiples
	Sales (mil)			Book value per share			EPS
Fiscal year	Mean est.	Growth	EV/Sales	Mean est.	Growth	P/B	Mean est.	Growth	P/E
2025 actual	397	−4.5%	7.8x	20.26	−3.0%	0.7x	2.14	−13.7%	6.5x
2026	354	−11.0%	8.7x	19.75	−2.5%	0.7x	1.80	−15.7%	7.7x
2027	357	+1.0%	8.7x	19.86	+0.5%	0.7x	1.80	−0.1%	7.7x
2028	347	−3.0%	8.9x	19.85	0.0%	0.7x	1.75	−3.0%	7.9x

Estimate revisions

Change in consensus estimates over 1, 3 and 6 months
	Sales				EPS
Fiscal year	Estimate (mil)	1M	3M	6M	Estimate	1M	3M	6M
2026	354	0.0%	+0.3%	−1.2%	1.80	+0.1%	−1.7%	−1.9%
2027	357	0.0%	−0.3%	+2.2%	1.80	0.0%	−2.1%	0.0%
2028	347	0.0%	+0.5%	+17.4%	1.75	+1.2%	+0.6%	−0.6%

Earnings surprises EPS beat in 2 of the last 4 quarters

Reported results versus consensus, last 10 fiscal quarters
Quarter ended	Mar 2024	Jun 2024	Sep 2024	Dec 2024	Mar 2025	Jun 2025	Sep 2025	Dec 2025	Mar 2026	Jun 2026
Sales reported (mil)	99.1	104	110	99.2	101	91.8	99.7	104	89.1	58.6
Sales mean (mil)	99.4	101	107	107	102	99.7	98.9	97.2	91.6	89.6
Surprise	−0.3%	+3.0%	+2.2%	−7.4%	−0.8%	−8.0%	+0.9%	+7.4%	−2.8%	−34.6%
EPS reported	0.63	0.63	0.66	0.57	0.52	0.50	0.50	0.62	0.47	0.45
EPS mean	0.65	0.62	0.64	0.62	0.55	0.52	0.50	0.49	0.46	0.45
Surprise	−2.5%	+1.3%	+2.8%	−8.4%	−5.5%	−2.9%	−0.9%	+25.4%	+2.5%	0.0%

Peer comparison Investment Banking & Investment Services

Peers in the same industry group, by market capitalization
Company	Market cap	Net debt/EBITDA	Net margin	P/B	FY1 P/E	FY2 P/E	FY1 EV/EBITDA	FY2 EV/EBITDA
MSDL Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund	1.2B	–	30.7%	0.71x	7.7x	7.7x	–	–
BAM BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD	79.1B	2.92x	53.3%	10.26x	26.0x	22.5x	–	–
ARCC Ares Capital Corp	13.8B	–	42.6%	0.99x	10.2x	9.8x	–	–
BXSL Blackstone Secured Lending Fund	5.4B	–	39.7%	0.91x	8.2x	9.1x	–	–
MAIN Main Street Capital Corp	5.2B	–	87.1%	1.63x	14.7x	14.3x	–	–
OBDC Blue Owl Capital Corp	5.1B	–	33.9%	0.73x	8.0x	8.0x	–	–
Mean		2.92x	47.9%	2.54x	12.5x	11.9x	–	–
Median		2.92x	41.1%	0.95x	9.2x	9.5x	–	–

Technical analysis

1M+1.2%
3M−6.1%
1Y−9.7%
3Y−7.5%

Financial statements in millions of USD

Income statement in millions of USD, fiscal years

Income statement, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund, fiscal years, most recent first
	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Total revenue	397	416	368	231	120	21.9
Cost of revenue	210	202	185	118	52.5	9.8
Gross profit	187	214	182	113	67.3	12.1
Selling, general & administrative expenses	9.2	7.6	5.6	4.2	4.6	3.4
Research & development	–	–	–	–	–	–
Interest expense (income), operating	–	–	–	–	–	–
Unusual expense (income)	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other operating expenses	−1.0	−16.0	−22.9	−20.0	−10.3	−1.9
Operating income	179	223	200	128	73.0	10.6
Net interest income (expense)	−53.9	−4.7	33.0	−79.5	10.3	7.7
Gain (loss) on sale of assets	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other non-operating income (expense)	0	0	0	0	0	0
Net income before taxes	125	218	233	48.9	83.3	18.3
Provision for taxes	2.8	2.4	1.5	0.3	0.1	–
Minority interest	–	–	–	–	–	–
Equity in affiliates	–	–	–	–	–	–
U.S. GAAP adjustment	–	–	–	–	–	–
Net income before extraordinary items	122	216	231	48.5	83.3	18.3
Extraordinary items	–	–	–	–	–	–
Net income	122	216	231	48.5	83.3	18.3
EBIT, normalized	179	223	200	128	73.0	10.6
EBITDA, normalized	–	–	–	–	–	–
Basic EPS, normalized	2.14	2.48	2.67	–	–	–

Balance sheet in millions of USD, fiscal years

Balance sheet, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund, fiscal years, most recent first
	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Assets
Cash & short-term investments	81.4	72.4	69.7	81.2	74.2	11.3
Receivables	26.9	31.0	29.1	23.7	19.9	2.4
Total inventory	–	–	–	–	–	–
Prepaid expenses	10.4	0.6	0.1	0	0.3	0.2
Other current assets	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total current assets	–	–	–	–	–	–
Property, plant & equipment	–	–	–	–	–	–
Goodwill	–	–	–	–	–	–
Intangibles	–	–	–	–	–	–
Long-term investments	3,785	3,791	3,194	2,874	2,387	637
Note receivable	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other long-term assets	136	121	113	113	106	19.8
Total assets	3,920	3,912	3,307	2,986	2,493	657
Liabilities
Accounts payable	–	–	–	–	–	–
Payable/accrued	–	–	–	–	–	–
Accrued expenses	25.1	26.9	22.9	20.3	6.5	3.2
Short-term debt	0	0	0	0	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other current liabilities	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total current liabilities	–	–	–	–	–	–
Long-term debt	2,087	1,973	1,496	1,523	1,250	334
Minority interest	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other liabilities	85.3	96.4	89.6	65.3	54.8	21.3
Total liabilities	2,172	2,070	1,586	1,589	1,305	355
Shareholders' equity
Preferred stock	0	0	–	–	–	–
Common stock	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0
Additional paid-in capital	1,768	1,812	1,713	1,452	1,173	297
Retained earnings (accumulated deficit)	−19.6	29.6	8.5	−54.8	15.8	4.7
Treasury stock	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other equity	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total equity	1,748	1,842	1,721	1,397	1,189	302
Total liabilities & shareholders' equity	3,920	3,912	3,307	2,986	2,493	657

Cash flow statement in millions of USD, fiscal years

Cash flow statement, Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund, fiscal years, most recent first
	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Operating activities
Net income	122	216	231	48.5	83.3	18.3
Depreciation, depletion & amortization	–	–	–	–	–	–
Deferred taxes	–	–	–	–	–	–
Non-cash items	29.3	−15.7	−44.5	70.6	−18.7	−9.9
Changes in working capital	−0.5	−582	−270	−549	−1,726	−622
Cash from operations	151	−383	−83.8	−430	−1,661	−613
Investing activities
Capital expenditures	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other investing cash flows	–	–	–	–	–	–
Cash from investing	–	–	–	–	–	–
Financing activities
Financing cash flow items	−12.1	−10.0	−120	−99.0	−46.4	−6.6
Cash dividends paid	−184	−169	–	–	–	–
Issuance (retirement) of debt, net	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other financing cash flows	63.2	555	193	536	1,771	631
Cash from financing	−133	376	72.3	437	1,724	625
Foreign exchange effects	0	0	–	–	–	–
Net change in cash	18.0	−6.3	−11.5	7.1	62.9	11.2
Free cash flow	151	−383	−83.8	−430	−1,661	−613

Disclaimer

The financial data presented in this report is delayed and obtained from sources QDD Research believes to be reliable, including stock exchanges, SEDAR, and EDGAR. However, no representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information. QDD Research accepts no liability for any errors, omissions, or financial losses arising from the use of this data.

This report is generated using a fully systematic and quantitative approach. All factor scores and the overall quant rating (ranging from D to A+) are derived from algorithmic models and are based solely on objective financial metrics. These scores are intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any securities.

QDD Research is not a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer and does not provide personalized financial advice. The content is not tailored to the specific investment goals, financial situation, or risk profile of any individual investor. We strongly encourage readers to consult with a licensed broker or investment advisor before making any investment decisions based on the information contained in this report.

Live quote provided by TradingView. Report data updated Nov 1, 2026 after market close.