Estee Lauder Companies Inc vs Moody's Corporation — how do they compare? Estee Lauder Companies Inc trades at $87.74 (market cap $31.76B), while Moody's Corporation trades at $480.62 (market cap $82.52B). The key difference: Moody's Corporation is far larger — about 2.6× Estee Lauder Companies Inc's market cap, and Estee Lauder Companies Inc pays the higher dividend (1.59%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| EL | MCO | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $31.76B | $82.52B |
Sector | Consumer Staples | Financials |
52-Week High | $119.61 | $539.61 |
52-Week Low | $67.23 | $412.23 |
Enterprise Value | $37.93B | $88.54B |
Dividend Yield | 1.59% | 0.86% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Estée Lauder (EL) trades at $87.19, down 1.31% on the day, with a mixed technical picture showing bullish moving averages but neutral oscillators. The company faces fundamental challenges with a net loss of $1.13B in 2025 and negative profit margins, though recent quarters have consistently beaten EPS expectations. Analyst sentiment is divided with a Hold consensus and $91.67 price target, while institutional activity shows significant position changes including Bank of America's 950.9% stake increase in Q1 2026.
The stock presents a recovery opportunity with strong brand positioning and recent product launches like the Glimmer fragrance, but faces headwinds from declining revenues and profitability. Near-term catalysts include the upcoming Q2 2026 earnings report where EL is expected to post $0.3193 EPS. The key risk remains execution on margin improvement amid competitive pressures in the beauty sector.
Moody's Corporation (MCO) trades at $478.14, showing modest daily gains of 0.08%. The stock demonstrates strong fundamental performance with consistent earnings beats and robust profitability metrics, including 34.25% net income margin and 80.15% ROE. Recent Q2 2026 results exceeded expectations with $4.68 EPS versus $4.26 expected, driven by strong analytics demand and debt issuance activity. Technical indicators remain neutral with support at $475 and resistance at $481.
MCO presents a compelling growth story with premium valuation justified by exceptional profitability and market leadership. The primary investment opportunity lies in sustained analytics growth and credit rating dominance, while risks include valuation sensitivity and potential debt market volatility. Analyst consensus remains bullish with $561.88 price target representing 17.5% upside potential from current levels.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Estee Lauder is the world leader in the global prestige beauty market, participating across skincare (56% of fiscal 2022 sales), makeup (26%), fragrance (14%), and haircare (4%) categories, with popular brands such as Estee Lauder, Clinique, MAC, La Mer, Jo Malone, Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Too Faced, Origins, Dr. Jart+, and The Ordinary. The firm operates in 150 countries, with 26% of fiscal 2022 revenue stemming from the Americas, 43% from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and 31% from Asia-Pacific. The company sells its products through department stores, travel retail, multi-brand specialty beauty stores, brand-dedicated freestanding stores, e-commerce, salons/spas, and perfumeries.
Read more on EL →Moody's, along with S&P Ratings, is a leading provider of credit ratings on fixed income securities. Moody's ratings segment, known as Moody's Investors Service or MIS, includes corporates, structured finance, financial institutions, and public finance ratings. MIS represents a majority of the firm's revenue and profits. Moody's other segment is Moody's Analytics and consists of Research, Data, and Analytics or RD&A and Enterprise Risk Solutions or ERS. RD&A's products include credit research, quantitative credit scores, economic research, business intelligence, know your customer (KYC) tools, commercial real estate data and analytical tools, and training services. ERS includes risk management software solutions to financial institutions.
Read more on MCO →