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Strong Global Bond Issuances to Aid Moody's (MCO) Q2 Earnings

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Moody's (MCO - Free Report) is scheduled to announce second-quarter 2024 results on Jul 23, before the opening bell. The company’s Corporate Finance line, the largest revenue contributor at the Moody's Investors Service (“MIS”) division, is likely to have witnessed solid revenue growth in the to-be-reported quarter.

Following the robust first-quarter performance, global issuance activity continued to be strong in the second quarter of 2024, driven by historically tighter corporate debt spread.

All three sub-categories within non-financial corporate bonds (investment grade, high yield and leveraged loans) witnessed gains on a year-over-year basis.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues from the Corporate Finance line of $493 million indicates a 35.1% jump from the prior-year quarter’s reported number. The consensus estimate for revenues for the Financial Institutions business line of $145 million suggests no change from the prior-year quarter’s actual.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Public, Project and Infrastructure Finance business of $140 million suggests a 10.2% year-over-year increase.

Quarterly issuance volumes for residential mortgage-backed securities, collateral debt obligations and asset-backed securities were robust. Thus, Structured Finance revenues are likely to have been favorably impacted. The consensus estimate for the same stands at $120 million, suggesting 17.6% growth from the prior-year quarter’s actual.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MIS division revenues for the to-be-reported quarter of $941 million implies an 18.7% year-over-year rise.

Other Key Factors & Estimates for Q2

Moody's Analytics (“MA”) Division: With demand for analytics rising, revenues from all units at the MA division are expected to have increased in the second quarter. The company’s efforts to strengthen the division’s profitability through inorganic growth strategies are anticipated to have offered some support. Thus, the division’s overall revenues are expected to have risen in the to-be-reported quarter.

The consensus estimate for the MA division’s quarterly revenues is pegged at $821 million, indicating a 9.3% increase from the prior-year quarter’s actual.

Expenses: Given Moody’s inorganic growth efforts, charges related to strategic acquisitions and restructuring costs, overall expenses are expected to have increased in the to-be-reported quarter.

Earnings Whispers

According to our proven model, the chances of Moody’s beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings this time are high. This is because it has the right combination of the two key ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better.

You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Earnings ESP: The Earnings ESP for Moody’s is +1.07%.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s second-quarter earnings is pegged at $3.02, which has been revised 5.6% upward over the past seven days. The figure indicates a 31.3% rise from the year-ago reported number.

Moody's Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

 

Moody's Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Moody's Corporation price-eps-surprise | Moody's Corporation Quote

The consensus estimate for sales of $1.74 billion suggests 16.3% year-over-year growth.

Earnings Dates & Expectations of Other Finance Stocks

LPL Financial (LPLA - Free Report) is slated to announce second-quarter 2024 numbers on Jul 25.

Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for LPL Financial’s quarterly earnings has moved 1.6% lower to $3.71, implying a 5.8% decrease from the prior-year reported number.

Ares Capital Corporation (ARCC - Free Report) is scheduled to announce quarterly numbers on Jul 30.

Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ares Capital’s quarterly earnings has been unchanged at 58 cents. The estimate suggests no change from the prior-year reported number.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.


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