MCO vs NDAQ vs CME Stock Comparison

Moodys, Nasdaq and Cme Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MCO Moodys Corp /De/
$477.35 +3.7% 1M -2.7% 1Y
Market cap
$83.41B
P/E
28.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.18B
Div. yield
0.01%
Financial Data and Analytics Financial Services
1 win
NDAQ Nasdaq, Inc.
$105.55 +14.0% 1M +20.0% 1Y
Market cap
$59.06B
P/E
28.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.15B
Div. yield
–
Exchanges Financial Services
3 wins
CME Cme Group Inc.
$294.04 +11.7% 1M +10.4% 1Y
Market cap
$105.34B
P/E
23.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.97B
Div. yield
–
Exchanges Financial Services
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Cme leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Cme 7, Nasdaq 3, Moodys 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMCONDAQCMELeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $83.41B $59.06B $105.34B CME
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 28.9x 28.3x 23.9x CME
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.6x 26.2x 25.0x CME
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.0% +11.5% +9.0% NDAQ
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 35.3% 22.8% 63.3% CME
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 27.9% 10.5% 11.7% MCO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 2.4x 0.2x CME
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.7% +20.0% +10.4% NDAQ
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.4%/yr +8.6%/yr +5.9%/yr NDAQ
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.4% 28.5% 25.4% CME
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 55/100 60/100 CME

Percentile Scorecard

MCONDAQCME

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisMCONDAQCME
Valuation 19 #763 of 941 42 #56 of 96 44 #54 of 96
Growth 73 #172 of 636 41 #39 of 65 22 #51 of 65
Profitability 96 #25 of 612 81 #13 of 65 91 #7 of 65
Financial Health 53 #325 of 693 47 #49 of 92 54 #43 of 92
Shareholder Returns 61 #279 of 706 65 #14 of 38 92 #4 of 38
Overall 60 55 60
  • MCO ranked among 1,003 companies in Financial Services
  • NDAQ ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets
  • CME ranked among 110 companies in Capital Markets

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodMCONDAQCMESPY
1 month +3.7%+14.0%+11.7% +0.9%
3 months -1.2%+10.5%+10.8% +5.9%
6 months +3.7%+15.6%+2.4% +8.5%
Year to date -6.6%+8.7%+7.7% +13.3%
1 year -2.7%+20.0%+10.4% +12.4%
3 years +58.1%+121.8%+40.7% +88.1%
3 years, per year +16.5%+30.4%+12.1% +23.5%
5 years +18.1%+50.9%+33.3% +68.2%
5 years, per year +3.4%+8.6%+5.9% +11.0%
10 years +371.8%+394.1%+194.3% +263.4%
10 years, per year +16.8%+17.3%+11.4% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureMCONDAQCMESPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.4%28.5%25.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 30.4%30.0%27.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.490.57-0.38 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.100.700.41 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -41.8%-33.4%-33.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.5%0.0%-9.9% -0.9%
52-week high $539.61$105.55$326.46 $779.14
52-week low $412.23$76.85$218.58 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleMCONDAQCME
P/E now vs peer median 28.6xmedian 12.9x 28.3xmedian 30.1x 23.8xmedian 30.1x
P/S now vs peer median 10.1xmedian 3.2x 6.4xmedian 3.0x 15.1xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.2xmedian 7.5x 19.8xmedian 14.1x 21.8xmedian 14.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 27.6xmedian 10.8x 26.1xmedian 15.8x 24.3xmedian 15.8x
P/B now vs peer median 24.1xmedian 1.2x 4.9xmedian 2.4x 4.0xmedian 2.4x
PEG now vs peer median 1.08median 0.87 1.55median 0.54 1.74median 0.54

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsMCONDAQCME
Revenue $8.18B $9.15B $6.97B
Gross profit $6.10B $5.78B –
Operating income $3.64B $2.73B $4.58B
Net income $2.89B $2.08B $4.42B
Free cash flow $2.98B $2.26B $4.33B
EPS (diluted) $16.64 $3.70 $12.31
Cash & equivalents $1.51B $365.00M $2.20B
Total debt $6.91B $8.74B $13.69B
Shares (diluted) 173.30M 563.31M 358.64M
Enterprise value $76.34B $56.50B $93.68B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricMCONDAQCME
P/E 28.6x 28.3x 23.8x
P/FCF 27.6x 26.1x 24.3x
P/Operating cash flow 24.7x 23.2x 23.7x
P/S 10.1x 6.4x 15.1x
P/B 24.1x 4.9x 4.0x
P/Tangible book 47.9x 10.0x 4.4x
EV/EBITDA 21.2x 19.8x 21.8x
EV/EBIT 24.0x 24.6x 23.2x
EV/Revenue 10.7x 7.3x 15.2x
EV/FCF 29.4x 29.7x 24.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.3x 26.4x 24.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.08 1.55 1.74

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMCONDAQCME
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.0% 11.5% 9.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.6% 15.1% 9.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 10.3% 13.7% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 14.6% 16.2% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 16.0% 23.1% 10.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 23.3% 20.1% 12.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 28.5% 28.2% 17.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 24.0% 23.6% 13.1%
EPS growth (1Y) 33.1% 31.8% 19.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 26.5% 18.3% 13.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 22.5% 9.0% 6.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 17.5% 12.8% 9.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 24.1% 7.6% 6.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.8% 11.6% 9.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMCONDAQCME
Gross margin 74.6% 63.2% –
EBITDA margin 50.6% 37.0% 69.8%
Operating margin 44.6% 29.8% 65.7%
Pretax margin 45.2% 28.5% 82.8%
Net margin 35.3% 22.8% 63.3%
FCF margin 36.4% 24.7% 62.1%
Operating cash flow margin 40.7% 27.8% 63.5%
Return on equity 87.8% 17.4% 16.6%
Return on assets 19.6% 7.6% 2.3%
Return on invested capital 27.9% 10.5% 11.7%
Return on capital employed 31.8% 12.0% 12.3%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.3x 0.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.2x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 2.8% 1.9% 1.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMCONDAQCME
Debt / assets 46.6% 31.9% 1.8%
Debt / equity 2.0x 0.7x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 2.4x 0.2x
Debt / FCF 2.3x 3.9x 0.8x
Liabilities / assets 77.0% 56.2% 86.2%
Equity / assets 23.0% 43.8% 13.8%
Interest coverage – 7.9x 26.2x
Current ratio 1.3x 1.0x 1.0x
Quick ratio 1.3x 0.4x 0.0x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.1x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 7.61 3.51 0.56

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMCONDAQCME
Dividend yield 0.8% 1.1% 3.4%
Net buyback yield 3.6% 2.5% –
Shareholder yield 4.4% 3.6% 3.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 24.6% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 23.8% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.0% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 8.8% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusMCONDAQCME
Forward P/E 26.6xFY2026 26.2xFY2026 25.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $17.93FY2026 $4.03FY2026 $11.74FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +20.0%FY2026 +15.8%FY2026 +4.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -1.5% +11.2% +19.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.69BFY2026 $6.10BFY2026 $7.27BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.6%FY2026 +16.1%FY2026 +11.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -2.0% +13.7% +7.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMCONDAQCME
Held by institutions 90.8% 83.8% 88.9%
Institutions holding 1,404 1,082 1,691
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.6% +1.0% +0.4%
Institutions buying 644 538 822
Institutions selling 522 397 655
Buyers to sellers 1.23 1.36 1.25

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

MCONDAQCME
MCO 1.00 0.63 0.16
NDAQ 0.63 1.00 0.35
CME 0.16 0.35 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MCO, NDAQ and CME?

Cme (CME) is the largest by market capitalisation: Moodys (MCO) $83.41B, Nasdaq (NDAQ) $59.06B, Cme (CME) $105.34B.

Which stock is cheaper, MCO, NDAQ and CME?

Cme (CME) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Moodys (MCO) 28.9x, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 28.3x, Cme (CME) 23.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Cme (CME) is cheapest (Moodys (MCO) 26.6x, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 26.2x, Cme (CME) 25.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Nasdaq (NDAQ) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Moodys (MCO) +9.0%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +11.5%, Cme (CME) +9.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Cme (CME) has the highest net margin (Moodys (MCO) 35.3%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 22.8%, Cme (CME) 63.3%). On return on invested capital, Moodys (MCO) leads (Moodys (MCO) 27.9%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 10.5%, Cme (CME) 11.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Nasdaq (NDAQ) returned the most: Moodys (MCO) -2.7%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +20.0%, Cme (CME) +10.4%. Over five years, Nasdaq (NDAQ) compounded fastest (Moodys (MCO) +3.4%/yr, Nasdaq (NDAQ) +8.6%/yr, Cme (CME) +5.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Moodys (MCO) 0.01%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 0.00%, Cme (CME) 0.00%. Nasdaq (NDAQ) and Cme (CME) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Cme (CME) has been the steadiest (Moodys (MCO) 28.4%, Nasdaq (NDAQ) 28.5%, Cme (CME) 25.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MCO, NDAQ and CME?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Cme (CME) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.