Moody's Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines (MCO)

Moody's Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Moody's (NYSE: MCO ) reported earnings on April 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Moody's beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared with the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded and GAAP earnings per share improved.

Margins shrank across the board.

Revenue details
Moody's logged revenue of $646.8 million. The six analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for revenue of $622.4 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 12% higher than the prior-year quarter's $577.1 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.76. The six earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.67 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.76 for Q1 were 13% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.67 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 71.3%, 80 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 41.6%, 170 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 26.8%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $636.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.72.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.49 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.69.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 873 members out of 1,028 rating the stock outperform, and 155 members rating it underperform. Among 372 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 319 give Moody's a green thumbs-up, and 53 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Moody's is hold, with an average price target of $41.50.

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Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings. He is the co-advisor of Motley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Moody's. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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