Earnings from Moody’s and Cognizant Technology

This morning, we had our final two earnings reports from Moody’s (MCO) and Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH).

For Q1, Moody’s earned $1.47 per share which was well ahead of the Street’s consensus of $1.24 per share. For Q1, Moody’s had revenues of $975.2 million. That’s up 19% from a year ago. Adjusted operating margin was 48.8%.

Previously, Moody’s said they expect full-year earnings between $5.15 and $5.30 per share. Now they say they expect earnings at the “upper end” of that range.

The shares initially sold off this morning but have come back some. Don’t worry–this was a good earnings report from Moody’s.

For Q1, Cognizant Technology Solutions netted 84 cents per share. Revenues rose 10.7% to $3.55 billion. Their operating margin was 18.9%. Earlier, the company told us to expect earnings of 83 cents per share, and that’s what Wall Street had been expecting as well.

”We delivered solid results in the first quarter and continued to build our digital solutions portfolio, expand our skills, and enhance our engagements with clients,” said Francisco D’Souza, Chief Executive Officer. “We’re making good progress in accelerating Cognizant’s shift to digital services and solutions to create value for clients and shareholders, positioning us well to achieve both our revenue and margin targets for this year.”

Now let’s turn to guidance. For Q2, Cognizant sees revenue ranging between $3.63 billion and $3.68 billion, and EPS of at least 89 cents per share. That’s quite good. For the full year, CTSH sees revenue between $14.56 billion and $14.84 billion, and EPS of at least $3.64. Wall Street had been expecting 90 cents per share for Q2, and $3.64 per share for all of 2017.

Cognizant will also pay out its first-ever dividend. If you recall, this was part of the agreement they reached with Elliott Management. CTSH will pay a 15-cent dividend at the end of this month.

Posted by on May 5th, 2017 at 2:21 pm


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.