Moody's reported record FY2025 results with total revenue exceeding $7.7bn, driven by strong debt issuance and analytics growth. Management provided 2026 guidance with margin expansion (MCO op margin 50-53%, EPS $16.40-$17.00) and $2.8-3.0bn free cash flow. Key signals include surging AI-related debt from hyperscalers, a new stablecoin rating methodology, and deepening partnerships with AI platforms (Claude, OpenAI) and enterprise software vendors. Record 2025: total revenue >$7.7bn, adj EPS $14.94, adj op margin 51.1% (+300bps).
Moody's reported record FY2025 results with total revenue exceeding $7.7bn, driven by strong debt issuance and analytics growth. Management provided 2026 guidance with margin expansion (MCO op margin 50-53%, EPS $16.40-$17.00) and $2.8-3.0bn free cash flow. Key signals include surging AI-related debt from hyperscalers, a new stablecoin rating methodology, and deepening partnerships with AI platforms (Claude, OpenAI) and enterprise software vendors. Record 2025: total revenue >$7.7bn, adj EPS $14.94, adj op margin 51.1% (+300bps).
Management emphasized that AI demand is accelerating, with customers adopting AI-enabled solutions growing at roughly twice the rate of the rest of the base and retained at 97%. They positioned Moody's as a trusted context layer for AI, citing wins such as a Tier 1 U.S. bank…
Record 2025: total revenue >$7.7bn, adj EPS $14.94, adj op margin 51.1% (+300bps).
Guidance tone
MIS revenue grew 17% in Q4, driven by investment-grade and private credit; private credit revenue up ~60% in 2025.
Management emphasized that AI demand is accelerating, with customers adopting AI-enabled solutions growing at roughly twice the rate of the rest of the base and retained at 97%. They positioned Moody's as a trusted context layer for AI, citing wins such as a Tier 1 U.S. bank deploying agentic solutions for credit memo automation and a large global bank embedding GenAI-ready data. They are building
Management expresses strong conviction in the business's resilience and growth trajectory, supported by record 2025 results and margin expansion guidance.
No explicit capex discussion beyond CFO Noemi noting a $100 million increase in capex for the build-out of New York headquarters and London office space, which impacts free cash flow guidance. This is a corporate facilities investment, not capacity expansion.
Management repeatedly highlighted record results, durable growth drivers, and AI-driven momentum, while providing robust 2026 guidance and signaling aggressive buybacks, reflecting optimistic outlook.
“the total value of issued stablecoins is forecasted to reach $400 billion by the end of 2026 and $2 trillion by 2028.”
“In the fourth quarter alone, we rated more than $70 billion of issuance for companies including Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta, in part related to their AI investment programs.”
| Metric | Period | Range | Midpoint | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | FY2026 | $16.40–$17.00 | $16.70 | GUIDED |
| Free cash flow | FY2026 | $2.8B–$3B | $2.9B | GUIDED |
| Op margin | FY2026 | 50%–53% | 51.5% | GUIDED |
| Op marginMIS | FY2026 | 65% | 65% | GUIDED |
| Op marginMA | FY2026 | 34%–35% | 34.5% | GUIDED |
| Issued | Metric | Target | Guide | Actual | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 Q1 | EPS | FY2026 Q2 | $4.15–$4.30 | $4.68 | Met / beat |
| FY2025 Q3 | EPS | FY2025 | $14.50–$14.75 | $14.94 | Met / beat |
| FY2025 Q3 | Op margin | FY2025 | 51% | 51.1% | Met / beat |
| FY2025 Q3 | Op margin | FY2025 | 33% | 33.1% | Met / beat |
| FY2025 Q3 | Op margin | FY2025 | 63%–64% | 63.6% | Met / beat |
Alphabet's large debt issuance signals continued aggressive AI infrastructure investment, supporting demand for capital markets services.
… It resulted in the busiest fourth quarter in our history. And the investments that we've made over several years have really positioned us to capitalize on this activity and And that drove record revenue this past year. In 2025, we rated $6.6 trillion of debt. That was an all-time high, supporting investment across infrastructure, AI-driven data centers, energy finance, energy transition finance, and private credit. And in the fourth quarter alone, we rated more than $70 billion of issuance for companies including Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta, in part related to their AI investment programs. Moody's was named best credit rating agency in the U.S. by Extel, again. That's for the 14th consecutive year. And that really reflects our role at the forefront of global debt markets. In December, we issued a request for comment on a cross-sector stablecoin rating methodology. And as the use of tokenized cash continues to accelerate, The total value of issued stable coins is forecasted to reach $400 billion by the end of 2026 and $2 trillion by 2028. And our methodology, which is the first such framework from a credit rating agency, will position Moody's to play an important role in the …
Blackstone is active in private credit securitization, using Moody's ratings as a stamp of quality.
“we were the sole rating agency on the largest private credit CLO of the year, a $1.5 billion issuance by Blackstone.”
… in the digital finance ecosystem. Now, in private credit, demand for ratings continues to accelerate. Private credit revenue in MIS grew by nearly 60% in 2025. reflecting both market growth and our expanding role in the sector. And we developed new methodologies and deepened our analytical and commercial engagement to capture rising demand for transparent, independent credit assessment. And that momentum is translating into tangible wins. Last year, we were the sole rating agency on the largest private credit CLO of the year, a $1.5 billion issuance by Blackstone. Now, pivoting to Moody's Analytics, we finished 2025 on a strong note there as well. We delivered net growth that outpaced the fourth quarter of 2024, and this performance included meaningful contributions from our highest priority growth areas. That includes our lending and credit decisioning solutions, as well as decision-grade KYC data. We also closed the year with strong momentum in AI-related sales and ranging from specialized workflow agents to AI-ready data sets, and I'm going to talk about that in just a few minutes. Importantly, our strongest growth came from our largest strategic customers. These customers …
Moody's will make its data available through Anthropic's Claude AI, enabling users to query decision-grade content via chatbot.
“and going forward through AI portals like Claude and OpenAI.”
… that it's accelerating is how customers consume our intelligence. So Moody's solutions are delivered through our own applications, and increasingly, they're embedded directly into customers' existing technology stacks and third-party workflow platforms. That includes systems like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Coupa, Intap, Databricks. And we've made our content available through smart APIs and MCPs and specialized agents for consumption through our customers' own AI platforms, and going forward through AI portals like Claude and OpenAI. And this is enabling us to serve our customers on a different level and in different ways than ever before. So for our banking customers, AI-enabled workflows such as automated credit memos and early warning systems are delivering some material efficiency gains, reducing cycle times while improving consistency and regulatory compliance. And our flagship lending solution that we call credit lens remains the fastest growing product in the banking portfolio with growth approaching 20% in 2025. And I have to tell you, our new packaging is working. Roughly two thirds of eligible renewals converted to our AI enabled lending suite in 2025 with an average …
Moody's data is being integrated into Salesforce's CRM ecosystem, deepening its workflow presence.
“our solutions are delivered through our own applications, and increasingly, they're embedded directly into customers' existing technology stacks and third-party workflow platforms. That includes systems like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Coupa,”
Moody's issued the first cross-sector stablecoin rating methodology and forecasts stablecoin market value reaching $400B by end of 2026 and $2T by 2028, signaling explosive growth in digital cash assets. — If stablecoin adoption hits these projections, exchanges and infrastructure providers like Coinbase stand to benefit significantly from increased transaction volumes and asset management fees.
Moody's rated over $70bn of debt from Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta in Q4 alone, largely tied to AI investment programs, indicating a massive capex cycle that benefits AI hardware and data center suppliers. — The debt issuance directly funds AI infrastructure buildouts, creating downstream demand for GPUs, networking, and data center equipment.
… It resulted in the busiest fourth quarter in our history. And the investments that we've made over several years have really positioned us to capitalize on this activity and And that drove record revenue this past year. In 2025, we rated $6.6 trillion of debt. That was an all-time high, supporting investment across infrastructure, AI-driven data centers, energy finance, energy transition finance, and private credit. And in the fourth quarter alone, we rated more than $70 billion of issuance for companies including Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta, in part related to their AI investment programs. Moody's was named best credit rating agency in the U.S. by Extel, again. That's for the 14th consecutive year. And that really reflects our role at the forefront of global debt markets. In December, we issued a request for comment on a cross-sector stablecoin rating methodology. And as the use of tokenized cash continues to accelerate, The total value of issued stable coins is forecasted to reach $400 billion by the end of 2026 and $2 trillion by 2028. And our methodology, which is the first such framework from a credit rating agency, will position Moody's to play an important role in the …