Cover and table of contents

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Cover and table of contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549


Form			10-Q

(Mark one)


☑			QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2024


☐			TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from to

Commission file number 1-14037

____________________

Moody’s Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Delaware									13-3998945
(State of Incorporation)									(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

7 World Trade Center at 250 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10007

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:

(212) 553-0300

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:


Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share	MCO	New York Stock Exchange
1.75% Senior Notes Due 2027	MCO 27	New York Stock Exchange
0.950% Senior Notes Due 2030	MCO 30	New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Sections 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):


Large Accelerated Filer	☑	Accelerated filer	☐
Non-accelerated filer	☐	Smaller reporting company	☐
Emerging growth company	☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☑

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date:


Shares Outstanding at September 30, 2024
181.2 million


	MOODY’S CORPORATION INDEX TO FORM 10-Q
	Page(s)
Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations	3
	PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1.	Financial Statements
	Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) for the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024 and 2023	7
	Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Unaudited) for the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024 and 2023	8
	Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) at September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023	9
	Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited) for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024 and 2023	10
	Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity (Unaudited) for the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024 and 2023	11
	Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)	15
Item 2.	Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
	The Company	39
	Sustainability	39

	Critical Accounting Estimates	40
	Reportable Segments	41
	Results of Operations	42
	Liquidity and Capital Resources	71
	Non-GAAP Financial Measures	73
	Recently Issued Accounting Standards	76
	Contingencies	76

	Forward-Looking Statements	77
Item 3.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk	78
Item 4.	Controls and Procedures	78
	PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1.	Legal Proceedings	79
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	79
Item 2.	Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds	79
Item 5.	Other Information	79
Item 6.	Exhibits	80

SIGNATURES		81

GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

The following terms, abbreviations and acronyms are used to identify frequently used terms in this report:


TERM			DEFINITION


ABS			Asset backed securities; a component of SFG
Acquisition-Related Intangible Amortization Expense			Amortization of definite-lived intangible assets acquired by the Company from all business combination transactions

Adjusted Diluted EPS			Diluted EPS excluding the impact of certain items as detailed in the section entitled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”
Adjusted Net Income			Net Income excluding the impact of certain items as detailed in the section entitled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”
Adjusted Operating Income			Operating income excluding the impact of certain items as detailed in the section entitled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”
Adjusted Operating Margin			Adjusted Operating Income divided by revenue
Americas			Represents countries within North and South America, excluding the U.S.


ARR			Annualized Recurring Revenue; a supplemental performance metric to provide additional insight on the estimated value of MA's recurring revenue contracts at a given point in time, excluding the impact of FX and contracts related to acquisitions
ASC			The FASB Accounting Standards Codification; the sole source of authoritative GAAP as of July 1, 2009 except for rules and interpretive releases of the SEC, which are also sources of authoritative GAAP for SEC registrants
Asia-Pacific			Represents Australia and countries in Asia including but not limited to: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand
ASU			The FASB Accounting Standards Update to the ASC. Provides background information for accounting guidance and the bases for conclusions on the changes in the ASC. ASUs are not considered authoritative until codified into the ASC
AUD			Australian dollar
BitSight			A provider that helps global market participants understand cyber risk through ratings, analytics, and performance management tools
Board			The board of directors of the Company
BPS			Basis points



CAD			Canadian dollar
CCXI			China Cheng Xin International Credit Rating Co. Ltd.; China’s first and largest domestic credit rating agency approved by the People’s Bank of China; currently Moody’s owns 30% of CCXI
CDP			Carbon Disclosure Project; an international nonprofit organization that helps companies, cities, states and regions manage their environmental impact through a global disclosure system
CFG			Corporate finance group; an LOB of MIS
CLO			Collateralized loan obligation
CMBS			Commercial mortgage-backed securities; an asset class within SFG
COLI			Corporate-Owned Life Insurance

Common Stock			The Company’s common stock
Company			Moody’s Corporation and its subsidiaries; MCO; Moody’s
CODM			Chief Operating Decision Maker


COVID-19			An outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus resulting in an international public health crisis and a global pandemic
CP			Commercial Paper
CP Program			A program entered into on August 3, 2016 allowing the Company to privately place CP up to a maximum of $1 billion for which the maturity may not exceed 397 days from the date of issue, and which is backstopped by the 2024 Facility
CRAs			Credit rating agencies


Data and Information (D&I)			LOB within MA which provides vast data sets on companies and securities via data feeds and data applications products


TERM			DEFINITION
Decision Solutions (DS)			LOB within MA that provides SaaS solutions supporting banking, insurance, and KYC workflows. This LOB utilizes components from the Data & Information and Research & Insights LOBs to provide risk assessment solutions

EMEA			Represents countries within Europe, the Middle East and Africa
EPS			Earnings per share

ESG			Environmental, Social and Governance


ESTR			Euro Short-Term Rate
ETR			Effective tax rate
EU			European Union
EUR			euros

Excess Tax Benefits			The difference between the tax benefit realized at exercise of an option or delivery of a restricted share and the tax benefit recorded at the time the option or restricted share is expensed under GAAP
Exchange Act			The Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
External Revenue			Revenue excluding any intersegment amounts
FASB			Financial Accounting Standards Board
FIG			Financial institutions group; an LOB of MIS

Free Cash Flow			Net cash provided by operating activities less cash paid for capital additions

FX			Foreign exchange
GAAP			U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
GBP			British pounds
GCR (Global Credit Rating Company Limited and subsidiaries)			A domestic credit rating agency with operations spanning Africa; the Company acquired a controlling financial interest in GCR in July 2024; the Company previously accounted for GCR as an equity method investment
GDP			Gross domestic product
GLoBE			Global Anti-Base Erosion, also known as "Pillar II;" tax model issued by the OECD in 2023

ICRA			ICRA Limited; a provider of credit ratings and research in India

INR			Indian rupee







JPY			Japanese yen
KYC			Know-your-customer

LOB			Line of business
MA			Moody’s Analytics - a reportable segment of MCO; a global provider of: i) data and information; ii) research and insights; and iii) decision solutions, which help companies make better and faster decisions. MA leverages its unique assets and specialized industry knowledge across multiple risks such as credit, market, financial crime, supply chain, catastrophe and climate to deliver integrated risk assessment solutions that enable business leaders to identify, measure and manage the implications of interrelated risks and opportunities

MAKS			Moody’s Analytics Knowledge Services; formerly known as Copal Amba; provided offshore research and analytic services to the global financial and corporate sectors; business was divested in the fourth quarter of 2019 and was formerly a reporting unit within the MA reportable segment

MCO			Moody’s Corporation and its subsidiaries; the Company; Moody’s
MD&A			Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
M&A			Mergers and acquisitions
MIS			Moody’s Investors Service - a reportable segment of MCO; MIS publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on a wide range of debt obligations, programs and facilities, and the entities that issue such obligations in markets worldwide, including various corporate, financial institution and governmental obligations, and structured finance securities; consists of five LOBs - SFG; CFG; FIG; PPIF; and MIS Other
MIS Other			Consists of financial instruments pricing services in the Asia-Pacific region, ICRA non-ratings revenue, and revenue from professional services. These businesses are components of MIS; MIS Other is an LOB of MIS
Moody’s			Moody’s Corporation and its subsidiaries; MCO; the Company


TERM			DEFINITION
MSS			Moody's Shared Services; primarily consists of information technology and support staff such as finance, human resources and legal that support both MA and MIS


Net Income			Net income attributable to Moody’s Corporation, which excludes net income from consolidated noncontrolling interests belonging to the minority interest holder


NM			Percentage change is not meaningful
Non-GAAP			A financial measure not in accordance with GAAP; these measures, when read in conjunction with the Company’s reported results, can provide useful supplemental information for investors analyzing period-to-period comparisons of the Company’s performance, facilitate comparisons to competitors’ operating results and to provide greater transparency to investors of supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making
NRSRO			Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization, which is a credit rating agency registered with the SEC



OECD			Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development; an international organization that promotes policies that improve economic and social well-being around the world
Operating segment			Term defined in the ASC relating to segment reporting; the ASC defines an operating segment as a component of a business entity that has each of the three following characteristics: i) the component engages in business activities from which it may recognize revenue and incur expenses; ii) the operating results of the component are regularly reviewed by the entity’s CODM; and iii) discrete financial information about the component is available


Pillar II			Tax model issued by the OECD in 2023; also referred to as the "Global Anti-Base Erosion" or "GLoBE" rules
PPIF			Public, project and infrastructure finance; an LOB of MIS







Praedicat			A provider of casualty insurance analytics; the Company acquired a controlling financial interest in Praedicat in September 2024; the Company previously accounted for Praedicat as an equity method investment
Recurring Revenue			For MA, represents subscription-based revenue and software maintenance revenue. For MIS, represents recurring monitoring fees of a rated debt obligation and/or entities that issue such obligations, as well as revenue from programs such as commercial paper, medium-term notes and shelf registrations. For MIS Other, represents subscription-based revenue




Reporting unit			The level at which Moody’s evaluates its goodwill for impairment under GAAP; defined as an operating segment or one level below an operating segment
Research and Insights (R&I)			LOB within MA that provides models, scores, expert insights and commentary. This LOB includes credit research; credit models and analytics; economics data and models; and structured finance solutions


RMBS			Residential mortgage-backed securities; an asset class within SFG

RMS			Risk Management Solutions, Inc., a global provider of climate and natural disaster risk modeling and analytics; acquired by the Company in September 2021
SaaS			Software-as-a-Service


SEC			U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

SFG			Structured finance group; an LOB of MIS
SG&A			Selling, general and administrative expenses
SGD			Singapore dollar
SOFR			Secured Overnight Financing Rate
Tax Act			The “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” enacted into U.S. law on December 22, 2017 which significantly amends the tax code in the U.S.

Total Debt			All indebtedness of the Company as reflected on the consolidated balance sheets
Transaction Revenue			For MA, represents perpetual software license fees and revenue from software implementation services, risk management advisory projects, and training and certification services. For MIS (excluding MIS Other), represents the initial rating of a new debt issuance as well as other one-time fees. For MIS Other, represents revenue from professional services.
U.K.			United Kingdom
U.S.			United States
USD			U.S. dollar


TERM			DEFINITION
UTPs			Uncertain tax positions











2022 - 2023 Geolocation Restructuring Program			Restructuring program approved by the chief executive officer of Moody’s on June 30, 2022 relating to the Company's post-COVID-19 geolocation strategy

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Next: Item 1. Financial Statements