CME Group vs Moody's
Add, change or remove companies; up to four.
KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put CME Group and Moody's side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Moody's is the larger business, with $7.7B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $6.5B for CME Group.
- Moody's grew revenue faster (8.9%, against 6.4%).
- CME Group kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (64.9% operating margin, against 43.4%).
- CME Group turned more of its sales into free cash flow (64.3% FCF margin, against 33.4%).
- Moody's earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (31.1%, against 11.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Moody's’s earnings: a P/E of 29.5x against 25.3x for CME Group.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
CME Group
CME
4/10
Operating marginNet marginFCF marginNet debt / EBITDA
Moody's
MCO
6/10
Revenue growth5-year growthReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | CME FY25 | MCO FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $110.5B | $84.0B |
| Revenue | $6.5B | $7.7B |
| Free cash flow | $4.2B | $2.6B |
| Net income | $4.1B | $2.5B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.4% | 8.9% |
| 5-year growth | 6.0% | 7.5% |
| Share count change | 0.1% | −1.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 74.4% |
| Operating margin | 64.9% | 43.4% |
| Net margin | 62.5% | 31.9% |
| FCF margin | 64.3% | 33.4% |
| Return on capital | 11.9% | 31.1% |
| Return on equity | 14.8% | 64.6% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$1.1B | $4.5B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.3x | 1.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $3.9B | $2.3B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 25.3x | 29.5x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 9 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.

