Moody's vs Nasdaq
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The short version
- Nasdaq is the larger business, with $8.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $7.7B for Moody's.
- Nasdaq grew revenue faster (11.7%, against 8.9%).
- Moody's kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (43.4% operating margin, against 28.2%).
- Moody's turned more of its sales into free cash flow (33.4% FCF margin, against 24.1%).
- Moody's earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (31.1%, against 9.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Moody's’s earnings: a P/E of 29.5x against 28.0x for Nasdaq.
| Latest fiscal year | MCO · FY25 | NDAQ · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $83.8B | $57.8B |
| Revenue | $7.7B | $8.3B |
| Free cash flow | $2.6B | $2.0B |
| Net income | $2.5B | $1.8B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 8.9% | 11.7% |
| 5-year growth | 7.5% | 8.0% |
| Share count change | −1.5% | −0.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 74.4% | 63.5% |
| Operating margin | 43.4% | 28.2% |
| Net margin | 31.9% | 21.6% |
| FCF margin | 33.4% | 24.1% |
| Return on capital | 31.1% | 9.5% |
| Return on equity | 64.6% | 15.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $4.5B | $8.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.2x | 3.4x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.3B | $1.2B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 29.5x | 28.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 9 | 9 |
Revenue
FY16
MCO $3.6B
NDAQ $3.7B
FY17
MCO $4.2B
NDAQ $3.9B
FY18
MCO $4.4B
NDAQ $4.3B
FY19
MCO $4.8B
NDAQ $4.3B
FY20
MCO $5.4B
NDAQ $5.6B
FY21
MCO $6.2B
NDAQ $5.9B
FY22
MCO $5.5B
NDAQ $6.2B
FY23
MCO $5.9B
NDAQ $6.1B
FY24
MCO $7.1B
NDAQ $7.4B
FY25
MCO $7.7B
NDAQ $8.3B
MCO
NDAQ
Operating margin
FY16
MCO 18.1%
NDAQ 22.6%
FY17
MCO 43.3%
NDAQ 25.1%
FY18
MCO 42.0%
NDAQ 24.0%
FY19
MCO 41.4%
NDAQ 23.9%
FY20
MCO 44.5%
NDAQ 21.9%
FY21
MCO 45.7%
NDAQ 24.5%
FY22
MCO 34.4%
NDAQ 25.1%
FY23
MCO 36.1%
NDAQ 26.0%
FY24
MCO 40.6%
NDAQ 24.3%
FY25
MCO 43.4%
NDAQ 28.2%
MCO
NDAQ
Free cash flow
FY16
MCO $1.1B
NDAQ $642M
FY17
MCO $664M
NDAQ $765M
FY18
MCO $1.4B
NDAQ $917M
FY19
MCO $1.6B
NDAQ $836M
FY20
MCO $2.0B
NDAQ $1.1B
FY21
MCO $1.9B
NDAQ $920M
FY22
MCO $1.2B
NDAQ $1.6B
FY23
MCO $1.9B
NDAQ $1.5B
FY24
MCO $2.5B
NDAQ $1.7B
FY25
MCO $2.6B
NDAQ $2.0B
MCO
NDAQ
Return on capital
FY16
MCO —
NDAQ 8.4%
FY17
MCO 47.2%
NDAQ 9.3%
FY18
MCO —
NDAQ 5.7%
FY19
MCO —
NDAQ 9.2%
FY20
MCO 38.2%
NDAQ —
FY21
MCO 32.9%
NDAQ —
FY22
MCO 17.7%
NDAQ 10.4%
FY23
MCO 21.5%
NDAQ 7.5%
FY24
MCO 26.6%
NDAQ 6.8%
FY25
MCO 31.1%
NDAQ 9.5%
MCO
NDAQ
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.