Why Is Financial Services Firm Moody's Stock Rising Today?

Moody's Corp MCO shares are trading higher on Tuesday after its first-quarter earnings release in which the company reported an 8% revenue increase year-on-year for the first-quarter to $1.92 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $1.88 billion.

Moody’s reported quarterly adjusted earnings per share of $3.83, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54.

Moody's Investors Service's (MIS) revenue increased 8% to $1.1 billion from the prior year.

Moody's Analytics (MA) revenue grew 8% to $859 million.

Operating expenses grew 9% compared to the prior-year period, including 3% from investments and operational costs, 3% from restructuring charges and 2% related to M&A.

The company's adjusted operating margin was 51.7%, up 100 basis points from the prior-year period.

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MA's adjusted operating margin rose by 30 basis points to 30%. MIS's adjusted operating margin of 66% improved 140 basis points Y/Y.

Cash flow from operations was $757 million and free cash flow was $672 million.

On April 21, 2025, the board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.94 per share, an 11% increase from the prior year's quarterly dividend of $0.85 per share. The dividend will be payable on June 6, 2025, to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 16, 2025.

During the first quarter of 2025, Moody's repurchased 0.8 million shares at an average cost of $481.77 per share. As of March 31, 2025, Moody's had 179.9 million shares outstanding, with approximately $1.2 billion of share repurchase authority remaining.

"Moody's delivered a very strong quarter across both our businesses, including a record quarter for our Ratings franchise. It is in times of uncertainty when the clarity and transparency we provide matter the most,” said president and CEO Rob Fauber. “Though we are facing a period of increased volatility, we run our business across market cycles, harnessing the strength and breadth of our portfolio to deliver value to our stakeholders over the long-term.”

2025 Outlook: Moody's lowered the adjusted EPS outlook from $14.00-$14.50 to $13.25 – $14.00 versus the $13.85 estimate.

The company projects revenues to increase in the mid single-digit percent range.

Operating expenses are projected to increase in the low to mid-single-digit percentage range in 2025.

Price Action: Moody's shares traded higher by 2.07% at $421.87 at last check Tuesday.

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