Moody's 3Q Net Up Sharply on Strong Rating, Research Demand

By Rob Curran

Moody's Corp. posted a 28% increase in third-quarter net income amid strong demand for its bond-rating and financial research products.

The New York credit-ratings and research firm said earnings rose to $389 million, or $2.11 a share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from $303 million, or $1.65 a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, Moody's logged third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.43, well above the average analyst estimate of $2.30 a share, as tallied by FactSet.

Third-quarter revenue rose 15% to $1.47 billion, exceeding the average analyst target of $1.46 billion, as tabulated by FactSet. Growth was broad-based. Revenue at its Moody's Analytics research unit rose 13% to $776 million during the three-month period. Revenue at the Moody's Investors Service credit-ratings unit rose 18% to $696 million, as the firm experienced the strongest demand for bank-loan ratings since early 2022.

Corporate bond issuance began to slow in 2022 in anticipation of rising interest rates, which has made debt more expensive to carry.

Moody's reiterated its projection for 2023 adjusted earnings and revenue growth. The credit-ratings firm continues to expect adjusted earnings per share between $9.75 and $10.25 on revenue growth in the high-single-digit percent range.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 25, 2023 07:41 ET (11:41 GMT)

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