MCO vs NWSA: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: NWSA is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. MCO and NWSA share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined MCO and NWSA exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Moody's is a global integrated risk-assessment company best known for credit ratings. It operates two main segments. Moody's Investors Service (MIS) rates the creditworthiness of bonds, loans, and other debt instruments issued by corporations, governments, and structured-finance vehicles, earning fees from issuers each time debt is rated. Moody's Analytics (MA) sells subscription software, data, research, and models for credit risk, economic forecasting, regulatory compliance, and increasingly ESG and supply-chain risk. Together with S&P Global, Moody's forms half of an effective duopoly in credit ratings, an industry protected by deep regulatory entrenchment, network effects, and the trust embedded in its ratings over more than a century. The ratings business is highly profitable and cyclical with debt-issuance volumes, while Moody's Analytics provides growing, recurring subscription revenue that smooths the cycle. Founded in 1909 and headquartered in New York, Moody's is a high-margin compounder tied to the global flow of capital and debt.

Full MCO guide

News Corporation is a diversified media and information company built out of the 2013 separation from Twenty-First Century Fox, and it now runs four reporting segments. Dow Jones is the largest profit engine, with fiscal 2026 revenue of ~$2.50 billion and segment EBITDA of ~$663 million, 84% of it digital, spanning The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance (~$392 million, up ~16%) and Dow Jones Energy including OPIS (~$301 million, up ~8%). Digital Real Estate Services holds a 62.0% interest in ASX-listed REA Group (realestate.com.au) and an 80% interest in Move, which operates Realtor.com, together producing ~$2.02 billion of revenue and ~$741 million of segment EBITDA. Book Publishing is HarperCollins at ~$2.29 billion of revenue, and News Media covers News Corp Australia, The Times and Sunday Times, The Sun, the New York Post, the newly launched California Post and News Broadcasting, at ~$2.23 billion of revenue but only ~$139 million of EBITDA. Foxtel left the group in the DAZN sale that closed in fiscal 2025 and sits in discontinued operations, so prior-year comparisons look odd unless you separate continuing operations.

Full NWSA guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• MCO drivers: Ratings duopoly and pricing power; Moody's Analytics recurring revenue.
• NWSA drivers: Dow Jones as a professional-information business, not a newspaper; REA Group and Move, the property half of the company.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The ratings segment is cyclical: debt issuance falls sharply when interest rates rise quickly or credit markets freeze, directly pressuring MIS revenue. For NWSA, news Media is the obvious drag: revenue rose ~3% in fiscal 2026 only because of a ~$81 million currency tailwind, adjusted revenue actually fell ~1%, and segment EBITDA declined ~9% to ~$139 million against ~$2.23 billion of revenue, a margin that leaves no room for further print decline or for the cost of new bets such as the California Post.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick MCO if you believe its drivers more; NWSA if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the MCO and NWSA guides.

MCO. Moody's trades at a premium to the market, reflecting its position in a protected ratings duopoly, high margins, capital-light economics, and the recurring revenue of Moody's Analytics. The valuation embeds steady mid-to-high-single-digit growth and assumes durable issuance volumes over time. The multiple has historically compressed during sharp debt-issuance downturns and re-rated as markets reopened.

NWSA. Figures are approximate, tied to August 2026 and drawn from the fiscal 2026 10-K and Q4 earnings release, so check live data before acting on any of them. The multiple looks full at first glance and cheaper on a parts basis: 62.0% of REA Group's ~A$23.2 billion market value is roughly ~A$14.4 billion, or about ~US$9.4 billion at ~0.65 US dollars per Australian dollar, which implies the market is assigning something under ~$6.5 billion to Dow Jones, HarperCollins, 80% of Move and the entire newspaper estate combined. Two caveats keep that arithmetic honest: ~$170 million of fiscal 2026 net income belonged to noncontrolling interests (mostly REA minorities and therefore not News Corp's to spend), and the Class A share class has no mechanism to force the discount closed.

Headline figures (approximate, early 2026): MCO shows revenue (ttm) ~$7.5 billion, operating margin ~45%, net income (ttm) ~$2.5 billion, eps (ttm) ~$13.50; NWSA shows revenue (ttm) ~$9.03 billion for fiscal 2026 (year ended June 30, 2026), up ~7% from ~$8.45 billion; Q4 revenue ~$2.34 billion, up ~11%, earnings Net income from continuing operations ~$743 million (up ~15%); diluted EPS from continuing operations attributable to stockholders ~$1.03 versus ~$0.84, adjusted EPS ~$1.18, segment profitability Total Segment EBITDA ~$1.63 billion (up ~15%): Dow Jones ~$663 million, Digital Real Estate ~$741 million, Book Publishing ~$287 million, News Media ~$139 million, Other ~-$203 million, cash generation Operating cash flow ~$1.24 billion (up ~26%), capital expenditure ~$426 million, free cash flow ~$811 million (up ~42%), a free-cash-flow yield near ~5.2% on the current market value.

MCO and NWSA are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined MCO and NWSA exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.