Moody's stock falls 1.62 percent as Morgan Stanley cuts target

Published on 10/07/2026 at 16:50 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS

Moody's stock fell 1.62 percent during trading on October 7, 2026, as its next results date approached. Q2 revenue rose 15.1 percent to USD 2.19 billion.

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Moody's Corporation (ISIN US6153691059) fell 1.62 percent during trading on October 7, 2026, as Morgan Stanley reduced its price target. The move puts the upcoming third-quarter report at the center of the next valuation test.

Morgan Stanley lowers its target

According to MarketBeat on October 7, 2026, Morgan Stanley cut its Moody's price target from USD 512.00 to USD 470.00 and retained an Equal Weight rating. The revised target stood 5.6 percent above the USD 444.98 trading price at 10:49 a.m. ET.

The broader analyst view remains higher than Morgan Stanley's revised level. The same MarketBeat report lists 19 analysts, a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target of USD 552.65, which is 24.2 percent above the October 7 trading price.

Q2 growth sets the earnings bar

Moody's most recent reported quarter delivered USD 2.19 billion in revenue and USD 4.68 in earnings per share, according to MarketBeat. Revenue increased 15.1 percent from the year-ago quarter, while EPS exceeded the USD 4.26 consensus by USD 0.42 in Q2 2026.

The latest figures show why the target debate is not only about the credit cycle. Moody's operates through Moody's Analytics and Moody's Investors Service, combining risk data, analytical tools and credit ratings, as described by StockAnalysis. The comparison between 15.1 percent revenue growth and the lower USD 470.00 target puts greater weight on how much of that expansion investors expect to persist.

October 21 is the next checkpoint

Moody's will release its third-quarter 2026 results before NYSE trading begins on October 21, 2026, with the investor teleconference scheduled for 9:00 a.m. ET, according to the company's investor-relations release dated September 30, 2026. That date gives investors a concrete test for revenue momentum, earnings conversion and the assumptions behind the competing price targets.

Stock remains below its yearly high

Moody's was trading at USD 444.98 on the NYSE at 10:49 a.m. ET on October 7, 2026, down USD 7.34 from the prior close. The price remained below the 52-week high of USD 546.88 and above the 52-week low of USD 402.28, while market capitalization stood at USD 77.1 billion.