Moody's Corporation (MCO)

FairStock Score: 55/100 — STEADY

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I approach Moody's as a high-quality franchise that the market already prices richly. The business rests on Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics: credit ratings, risk data and research that are deeply embedded in financial workflows and benefit from brand, scale and regulatory standing. The filed figures show profitability. In fiscal Q3 2026, the quarter ended 2026-09-30, revenue was $2.0B, net income $734.0M, diluted EPS $4.24, and the margin was 36.28%; in fiscal Q3 2025 revenue was also $2.0B, net income $646.0M, and diluted EPS $3.60. Fiscal year 2025 revenue was $7.7B, net income $2.5B and diluted EPS $13.67, compared with $7.1B, $2.1B and $11.26 in fiscal year 2024. Trailing free cash flow is $3.0B. FairStock calculations at the 2026-10-26 close show ROE 76.93%, ROCE 15.62%, D/E 2.41, Piotroski 6/9 and Altman Z-Score 6.65. The balance sheet has leverage, but cash generation and profitability are exceptional. The difficulty is valuation and growth. At $484.45, FairStock shows P/E 30.78, P/B 27.73, EV/EBITDA 20.07, FCF yield 3.6%, Graham Number $81.92, and a margin of safety of -490.15%. FairStock's PEG is 0.59, yet FairStock's Lynch category is Slow Grower: 6.7% profit and 7.5% revenue growth over five years, computed from filed annual results. A wonderful business can still be a poor bargain at too high a price. I would want a wider margin of safety or clearer reacceleration.

In plain English: Moody's sells credit ratings and risk-analysis products to financial institutions. The business looks strong, with high profit margins and plenty of cash generation, but growth has been slow. At the recent share price, the stock looks expensive compared with the company's accounting value and its slow growth.

The full AI analysis, bull and bear case and key monitorables are in FairStock Pro.

Data as of 2026-10-26 close · note generated 2026-10-28 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q3 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-09-30) · fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-30) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-31) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-30) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-12-31) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-12-31) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-12-31)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer