MCO vs. NDAQ: Moody's vs. Nasdaq Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ) are both classified in the Financial Exchanges & Data sub-industry within the broader Capital Markets industry, placing them in the closest GICS peer bucket.

Company profile comparison for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ)
Profile Item	MCO	NDAQ
Name	Moody's Corporation	Nasdaq, Inc. Common Stock
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Financials	Financials
GICS Industry Group	Financial Services	Financial Services
GICS Industry	Capital Markets	Capital Markets
GICS Sub-Industry	Financial Exchanges & Data	Financial Exchanges & Data
Market Capitalization	87.19 billion USD	59.88 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	NYSE	Nasdaq
Listing Date	October 31, 1994	July 1, 2002
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

MCO

NDAQ

GSPC

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

Loading price history…

Trailing total returns for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

Loading price history…

Calendar-year total returns for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ)
Metric	MCO	NDAQ
Total Return (1Y)	5.02%	26.55%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	15.27%	30.18%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	6.21%	10.68%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

MCO

NDAQ

GSPC

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

Loading price history…

Distribution of monthly total returns for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Risk profile metrics for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ)
Metric	MCO	NDAQ
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	28.61%	28.74%
Beta (5Y)	1.28	0.94
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-40.93%	-32.57%
Avg. Volume (3M)	817.57K	3.13M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

MCO and NDAQ are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ)
Metric	MCO	NDAQ
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	0.03	0.77
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	0.04	1.09

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Moody's (MCO) at 76.74% clears its industry range for ROE, a sharper capital-efficiency signal than Nasdaq (NDAQ) at 17.33%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

MCO

Financial Services industry group

76.74%

MCO: 76.74%
Max: 44.78%
Q3: 21.85%
Median: 12.91%
Q1: 4.48%
Min: -18.71%

NDAQ

Financial Services industry group

17.33%

Max: 44.78%
Q3: 21.85%
NDAQ: 17.33%
Median: 12.91%
Q1: 4.48%
Min: -18.71%

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ): A comparison of their ROE against the Financial Services industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

For every dollar of sales, both Moody's (MCO) at 35.26% and Nasdaq (NDAQ) at 36.06% retain more as net profit than most peers, landing in the top net margin quartile of their industries.

MCO

Financial Services industry group

35.26%

Max: 62.84%
MCO: 35.26%
Q3: 28.05%
Median: 15.36%
Q1: 4.82%
Min: -28.52%

NDAQ

Financial Services industry group

36.06%

Max: 62.84%
NDAQ: 36.06%
Q3: 28.05%
Median: 15.36%
Q1: 4.82%
Min: -28.52%

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ): A comparison of their net margin against the Financial Services industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Both Moody's (MCO) at 46.27% and Nasdaq (NDAQ) at 50.57% run core operations about as efficiently as their industries’ norm — neither stands out on operating profitability.

MCO

Financial Services industry group

46.27%

Max: 107.33%
Q3: 55.90%
MCO: 46.27%
Median: 30.09%
Q1: 14.60%
Min: -44.34%

NDAQ

Financial Services industry group

50.57%

Max: 107.33%
Q3: 55.90%
NDAQ: 50.57%
Median: 30.09%
Q1: 14.60%
Min: -44.34%

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ): A comparison of their operating margin against the Financial Services industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ)
Metric	MCO	NDAQ
ROE (TTM)	76.74%	17.33%
ROA (TTM)	15.56%	6.10%
Net Margin (TTM)	35.26%	36.06%
Operating Margin (TTM)	46.27%	50.57%
Gross Margin (TTM)	--	--

Growth

Revenue Growth

Both Moody's (MCO) at 8.89% and Nasdaq (NDAQ) at 11.65% land near their industries' usual revenue growth ranges, so top-line momentum looks broadly in line with peers on both sides.

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Nasdaq (NDAQ) at 60.10% sits in the top EPS growth quartile, while Moody's (MCO) at 21.40% is closer to the peer norm — faster per-share earnings growth for NDAQ.

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ)
Metric	MCO	NDAQ
Revenue Growth (YoY)	8.89%	11.65%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	12.17%	9.89%
EPS Growth (YoY)	21.40%	60.10%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	22.48%	10.99%

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

current ratio doesn’t apply on either side: Moody's (MCO) in Financial Services and Nasdaq (NDAQ) in Financial Services both report balance sheets without a current/non-current split, so their short-term liquidity is better judged through regulatory and funding measures.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

debt-to-equity ratio is set aside for both: Moody's (MCO) in Financial Services and Nasdaq (NDAQ) in Financial Services run businesses where balance-sheet leverage is part of the model, so capital-adequacy and funding measures are the better gauges of balance-sheet risk.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ)
Metric	MCO	NDAQ
Current Ratio (MRQ)	--	--
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	--	--
Net Debt / EBITDA	--	--

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Both Moody's (MCO) at 0.78% and Nasdaq (NDAQ) at 1.09% pay solid, industry-typical yields, sitting squarely within their peers’ usual range.

MCO

Financial Services industry group

0.78%

Max: 9.77%
Q3: 3.92%
Median: 1.09%
MCO: 0.78%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

NDAQ

Financial Services industry group

1.09%

Max: 9.77%
Q3: 3.92%
Median: 1.09%
NDAQ: 1.09%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Financial Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Both Moody's (MCO) at 24.59% and Nasdaq (NDAQ) at 31.69% keep payout ratio within their industries’ typical mid-ranges — dividend policies that share earnings without consuming too much of them.

MCO

Financial Services industry group

24.59%

Max: 241.07%
Q3: 97.36%
Median: 25.77%
MCO: 24.59%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

NDAQ

Financial Services industry group

31.69%

Max: 241.07%
Q3: 97.36%
NDAQ: 31.69%
Median: 25.77%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Financial Services industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ)
Metric	MCO	NDAQ
Dividend Yield (TTM)	0.78%	1.09%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	24.59%	31.69%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

Both Moody's (MCO) at 30.85 and Nasdaq (NDAQ) at 29.27 sit in the richer earnings-multiple quartile for P/E ratio, so investors are paying more for TTM earnings than they pay for typical peers.

MCO

Financial Services industry group

30.85

Max: 45.85
MCO: 30.85
Q3: 24.64
Median: 15.37
Q1: 9.68
Min: 0.16

NDAQ

Financial Services industry group

29.27

Max: 45.85
NDAQ: 29.27
Q3: 24.64
Median: 15.37
Q1: 9.68
Min: 0.16

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ): A comparison of their P/E ratio against the Financial Services industry group benchmark.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

Investors are paying well above the peer range per dollar of sales for both Moody's (MCO) at 10.66 and Nasdaq (NDAQ) at 10.36 — each P/S ratio clears its industry’s benchmark range.

MCO

Financial Services industry group

10.66

MCO: 10.66
Max: 9.23
Q3: 4.57
Median: 2.72
Q1: 1.28
Min: -0.55

NDAQ

Financial Services industry group

10.36

NDAQ: 10.36
Max: 9.23
Q3: 4.57
Median: 2.72
Q1: 1.28
Min: -0.55

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Financial Services industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

Both look rich against book: Nasdaq (NDAQ) at 4.99 sits in the upper P/B ratio quartile, and Moody's (MCO) at 26.68 prices even higher, above its industry range.

MCO

Financial Services industry group

26.68

MCO: 26.68
Max: 7.79
Q3: 3.63
Median: 1.57
Q1: 0.81
Min: -0.39

NDAQ

Financial Services industry group

4.99

Max: 7.79
NDAQ: 4.99
Q3: 3.63
Median: 1.57
Q1: 0.81
Min: -0.39

Moody's (MCO) vs. Nasdaq (NDAQ): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Financial Services industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Moody's (MCO) and Nasdaq (NDAQ)
Metric	MCO	NDAQ
P/E Ratio (TTM)	30.85	29.27
P/S Ratio (TTM)	10.66	10.36
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	26.68	4.99
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	--	--