Moody’s Earned $1.63 per Share

This morning, Moody‘s (MCO) reported Q4 earnings of $1.63 per share. That’s four cents below expectations. Revenue fell 9% to $1.1 billion. For the year, Moody’s made $7.39 per share. That’s an increase of 22% over 2017.

Moody’s is also raising its quarterly dividend by 14% to 50 cents per share.

“Moody’s Corporation achieved strong results for full year 2018, driven by robust performance at Moody’s Analytics, prudent expense management and the benefit of a lower effective tax rate, despite weaker than expected global debt issuance in the fourth quarter,” said Raymond McDaniel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Moody’s. “For 2019, we remain focused on strong execution across the business and project revenue growth in the mid-single-digit percent range, diluted EPS in the range of $7.30 to $7.55 and adjusted diluted EPS in the range of $7.85 to $8.10, with strength in Moody’s Analytics offsetting expectations for flat to down issuance in global debt.”

For 2019, Moody’s sees earnings of $7.85 to $8.10 per share. Wall Street had been expecting $7.94 per share.

Moody’s also announced “a $500 million accelerated share repurchase program expected to be complete during the second quarter of 2019.”

Posted by on February 15th, 2019 at 9:11 am


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