New York, Feb 11, 2026, 06:46 ET — Premarket
- Moody’s dipped another 0.1% before the bell, following Tuesday’s sharp 6.8% drop.
- S&P Global’s downbeat 2026 profit outlook triggered a broader sector selloff, dragging shares lower.
- Next week, investors will be watching Moody’s earnings for clues on issuance trends and appetite for analytics.
Shares of Moody’s Corporation NYSE:MCO slipped 0.1% to $418.49 ahead of Wednesday’s open. The stock had closed Tuesday at $418.96, capping a sharp 6.8% decline.
Financial data and ratings firms, usually seen as reliable profit generators, are in focus after the recent pullback. Now, attention is on whether emerging AI tools might start eroding the pricing power these analytics and research products command.
Moody’s faces its results next week with little leeway for a cautious tone. Traders want fresh clues on the pace of debt issuance—the lifeblood for ratings fees—and are watching to see if clients stick with analytics subscriptions at the current rate.
Rival S&P Global threw out a 2026 adjusted earnings-per-share forecast between $19.40 and $19.65, missing analysts’ consensus of $19.94, LSEG numbers show. The stock nosedived 9.7%, touching a low not seen in over two years.
The group took a hit. Moody’s sank 6.8% by Tuesday’s close; Verisk finished almost 5% lower, and Nasdaq stumbled 4.4%. Investors cut back across the sector.
S&P’s top brass doesn’t buy the story that AI is all downside. “We see AI really is a net tailwind for the business,” CEO Martina Cheung said to analysts during the company’s earnings call. The Motley Fool
Moody’s business comes down to two main levers: ratings fees—those swing up or down with capital markets—and steady income off its data and analytics products. When deals stall, revenue tied to transactions often disappears quickly. Subscription revenue hangs on longer, but that’s not bulletproof; clients can trim headcount and shrink those lines too.
Credit markets saw fresh action this week as both Moody’s and S&P lowered Stellantis to the bottom rung of investment-grade, just a notch shy of “junk”, pointing to softer profitability and cash-flow outlooks. Reuters
Uncertainty continues to dictate the equity tape here, rather than any isolated downgrade. Should investors start to treat the AI threat as more than just noise — or if new issuance keeps dragging — Moody’s might have to grapple with a tougher valuation reset, and that’s before its report lands.
Mark Feb. 18 on the calendar—Moody’s is set to report fourth-quarter and full-year results, with the conference call scheduled for 9:00 a.m. ET.
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