What it does
Moody’s states that it is a global integrated risk assessment firm with two reportable segments: Moody’s Analytics (MA) and Moody’s Investors Service (MIS). MA provides curated data, intelligence and analytical tools, including research, data and cloud-based workflow tools for banking, insurance and KYC activities. MIS publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services for debt obligations, programs, facilities and their issuers worldwide. The company states that its offerings combine data, analytical models and domain expertise to help customers assess risks and make decisions.
Source: Moody’s Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
How it makes money
The segment table below presents the company’s reported segment results. Moody’s states that MA includes a fixed-income and economic research business, a data business, and cloud-based subscription businesses serving banking, insurance and KYC workflows. For MIS, rating fees paid by debt issuers account for most revenue; a substantial portion therefore depends on the dollar-equivalent volume and number of ratable debt securities issued in global capital markets. MIS also earns revenue from certain non-ratings operations, which the filing says are not material to MIS segment results.
Source: Moody’s Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
Customers and geography
The company states that MA serves financial services, corporate and public-sector customers. Its workflow tools support customers in starting business relationships, monitoring and managing risk, and complying and reporting under global laws, rules and regulations. MIS serves businesses, governments and other entities globally, while its ratings and research are used by debt issuers and investors. Moody’s describes its workforce as operating across more than 40 countries and states that MIS publishes ratings for markets worldwide. The filing does not provide revenue by geography in the supplied facts.
Source: Moody’s Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
Competition
The filing does not name individual competitors. It states that MA competes broadly in financial information and enterprise-risk software. Within Decision Solutions, its main competitors are providers of software and analytic solutions; Research & Insights faces providers of economic data, financial research and analysis; and Data & Information faces providers of commercial and financial data. MIS competes with other credit rating agencies, investment banks and brokerage firms that offer credit opinions and research. The filing also notes that many users of MIS ratings have in-house credit research capabilities.
Source: Moody’s Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
Key risks
- MIS operates in a highly regulated industry, where laws and regulations can increase oversight, legal proceedings and defense costs.
- Future laws and regulations could extend to products and services not currently regulated.
- Operating in multiple jurisdictions exposes the company to legal, economic, operational and regulatory risks.
- The company faces uncertain, evolving and new laws and regulations, including data, cybersecurity and AI-related requirements.
- Sustainability matters and related reporting could negatively affect the company’s reputation or business.
- The company is exposed to cybersecurity and confidential-information protection risks.
Source: Moody’s Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1A — sec.gov
People and operations
As of December 31, 2025, Moody’s had 16,076 employees. The filing breaks this workforce across MA, MIS and Moody’s Shared Services (MSS), and between U.S. and non-U.S. locations. It states that MA employees primarily include software engineers, product managers, data and operations analysts, advisory and implementation teams, economists, and sales professionals. MIS employees primarily include credit analysts, data and operations analysts, methodology professionals, software engineers and sales teams. The company’s executive offices are at 7 World Trade Center in New York, New York.
Source: Moody’s Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov