Canadian Halal Investor.

NYSE Shariah screener · October 2026

Is Moody's Corporation (MCO) Halal?

PASS

Moody's Corporation · NYSE: MCO · Financials

The short answer

Yes — Moody's Corporation (MCO) passes this Shariah stock screen on all three gates. Per its filings, Moody's sells credit ratings (Moody's Investors Service: corporate, financial-institution, governmental and structured-finance debt; H1 2026 segment revenue $2,516M) and risk data/analytics software (Moody's Analytics, 96% recurring revenue) - financial-information activity, not conventional lending, deposit-taking or insurance, with no alcohol, gambling, pork, weapons or tobacco revenue disclosed. Interest-bearing debt of $6,946M ($571M current portion of long-term debt + $6,375M long-term debt) is about 8.97% of its ~$77.5B market cap ($447.36, October 2, 2026), below the ~33% ceiling; separately disclosed interest income of $21M is about 0.49% of $4,264M revenue, below the 5% ceiling. The third parties disagree: Zoya rates MCO not Shariah-compliant while Musaffa classifies it halal (October 2026) - reported honestly, not invented. This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling - consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

Gate 1 — Business activity: PASS

Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO) operates two reportable segments per its FY2025 10-K (filed February 18, 2026): Moody's Investors Service (MIS), which publishes credit ratings and assessment services on a wide range of debt obligations, programs and facilities worldwide - corporate, financial institution and governmental obligations, and structured finance securities - and Moody's Analytics (MA), which sells data, research and software (Decision Solutions, Research and Insights, Data and Information), with MA revenue 96% recurring as of Q1 2025. In the six months ended June 30, 2026, MIS reported total revenue of $2,516M (ratings revenue $2,388M: corporate finance $1,284M, structured finance $288M, financial institutions $416M, public/project/infrastructure finance $400M) against consolidated revenue of $4,264M. Haram check (factual): Moody's does not engage in conventional lending, deposit-taking or insurance - it sells ratings, data and software (financial-information activity) - and its filings disclose no alcohol, gambling, pork, weapons or tobacco revenue. This is the same treatment applied to the comparable ratings firm S&P Global, screened as a PASS on October 1, 2026. Gate 1 passes. Facts only.

Gate 2 — Debt and cash: PASS

Per Moody's Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended June 30, 2026), interest-bearing debt was $6,946M - current portion of long-term debt $571M plus long-term debt $6,375M (the MD&A confirms total debt carrying value of $6,946 million). Against a market cap of about $77.5B ($447.36 per Finnhub, October 2, 2026; 173,180,984 shares outstanding - 342,902,272 issued less 169,721,288 treasury shares), debt ÷ market cap is about 8.97%, comfortably below the ~33% ceiling. Cash and cash equivalents of $1,467M plus short-term investments of $29M ($1,496M combined) are about 1.93% of market cap. Gate 2 passes. Facts only.

Gate 3 — Non-compliant income: PASS

Moody's Q2 2026 10-Q separately discloses the components of interest in a dedicated note: interest income of $21M for the six months ended June 30, 2026 (against interest expense, net of $124M). Against total revenue of $4,264M for the same six months, interest income is about 0.49% of revenue - far below the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. Gate 3 passes on primary-source figures. Facts only.

Key figures used

Frequently asked questions

What does Moody's do?

Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO) is a risk-assessment business based in New York. Its FY2025 10-K describes two reportable segments: Moody's Investors Service (MIS), which publishes credit ratings and assessment services on debt obligations worldwide - corporate, financial institution and governmental obligations, plus structured finance securities - and Moody's Analytics (MA), which sells data, research and software (Decision Solutions, Research and Insights, Data and Information), with MA's revenue 96% recurring as of Q1 2025. In the six months ended June 30, 2026, MIS reported total revenue of $2,516M (ratings revenue $2,388M: corporate finance $1,284M, structured finance $288M, financial institutions $416M, public/project/infrastructure finance $400M) against consolidated revenue of $4,264M.

Why does Moody's pass this Shariah stock screen?

Moody's passes all three gates of this screen. Gate 1 (business activity): credit ratings and risk data/analytics are financial-information activity - Moody's does not engage in conventional lending, deposit-taking or insurance, and its filings disclose no alcohol, gambling, pork, weapons or tobacco revenue. This matches the treatment of the comparable ratings firm S&P Global, screened as a PASS on October 1, 2026. Gate 2 (debt): interest-bearing debt of $6,946M is about 8.97% of its ~$77.5B market cap, under the ~33% ceiling. Gate 3 (non-compliant income): separately disclosed interest income of $21M is about 0.49% of $4,264M revenue, under the 5% ceiling. Note the third-party divergence: Zoya currently rates MCO not Shariah-compliant, while Musaffa classifies it halal (October 2026) - reported honestly, not as agreement with either. This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling - consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

What is Moody's interest-bearing debt ratio?

Per Moody's Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended June 30, 2026), interest-bearing debt was $6,946M - current portion of long-term debt $571M plus long-term debt $6,375M; the MD&A confirms total debt had a carrying value of $6,946 million. Against a market cap of about $77.5B ($447.36 per Finnhub, October 2, 2026; 173,180,984 shares outstanding - 342,902,272 issued less 169,721,288 treasury shares), debt ÷ market cap is about 8.97% - comfortably below the ~33% ceiling. Cash and cash equivalents of $1,467M plus short-term investments of $29M ($1,496M combined) are about 1.93% of market cap.

What is Moody's non-compliant income ratio?

Moody's Q2 2026 10-Q breaks out the components of interest as presented in the statements of operations in a dedicated note: interest income of $21M for the six months ended June 30, 2026 (against interest expense, net of $124M). Against total revenue of $4,264M for the same six months, interest income is about 0.49% of revenue - far below the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. Gate 3 passes on primary-source figures.

Do Zoya, Musaffa, or ShariaPortfolio cover Moody's?

Zoya covers MCO and states on its live stock page that "Moody's MCO stock is not Shariah-compliant" (zoya.finance/stocks/mco). Musaffa covers MCO and classifies it as halal as of October 2026 (musaffa.com/stock/MCO/), per its Shariah screening methodology. No ShariaPortfolio stock-by-stock screening page or rating for MCO was found - reported as absent, not invented. This page applies the screen directly from Moody's own filings and reports these positions honestly, including where the third parties disagree with each other and with this screen.

Sources

Screened 2026-10-02 from published company figures and market data. Figures change; this page is educational, not financial advice and not a religious ruling.

Screened with our two-gate Shariah screening methodology (business-activity gate, then AAOIFI-style financial ratios).