Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) shares climbed Wednesday after the ratings and analytics firm delivered a strong quarter, driven by broad-based momentum across its business lines.
Investors also focused on management’s upbeat outlook, as demand for decision-support tools and credit-market services held firm.
Quarterly Metrics
The company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $3.64, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $3.42. Quarterly sales of $1.889 billion (up 13% from the prior-year period) outpaced the Street view of $1.862 billion.
Moody’s Analytics revenue rose 9%, led by 12% growth in Decision Solutions, 6% in Research & Insights, and 8% in Data & Information.
Moody’s Investors Service revenue climbed 17%, delivering its strongest fourth quarter on record.
Quarterly operating income increased to $770 million, compared with $561 million a year ago. Operating margin improved to about 40.8% in the quarter from roughly 33.6% in the year-ago period, reflecting stronger profitability year over year.
Cash flow from operations was $2.901 billion, and free cash flow was $2.575 billion. As of Dec. 31, 2025, Moody’s had $7 billion of outstanding debt and an undrawn $1.25 billion revolving credit facility.
“By scaling decision grade, contextual intelligence that is embedded directly into customer workflows—across our platforms, third party systems, and AI enabled interfaces—we are expanding the ways in which Moody’s remains central to high stakes decision making,” said CEO Rob Fauber.
Outlook
Moody’s sees fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of $16.40 to $17.00, above $16.37 estimate.
The firm expects fiscal 2026 GAAP EPS of $15.00 to $15.60, compared with a $15.07 analyst estimate.
MCO Price Action: Moody’s Corporation shares are trading higher by 6.17% to $449.53 at last check on Wednesday.
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