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Moody's and S&P Global could de-rate from high starting multiples if generalist portfolio managers come to see them as FICO 2.0. Their industry structures differ, but parallels in standards, pricing power and regulatory exposure could build a narrative that their pricing power is tapped out after the FICO case study, compressing multiples further. So far their de-rating has come from macro and AI pressure, not such fears. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Hyperscaler credit stress and weak financials-versus-staples leadership warn of downside risk in the S&P 500 consolidation. Spreads have broken July wides, though an upside breakout is probable if financials stabilize. So far, tech weakness has lowered yields as Fed hikes are priced out, letting defensives rally and the S&P chop. If the Fed signals Nasdaq weakness won't stop tightening without better data, the tech-yield link could break in an uncomfortable, 2018-like direction. x.com x.com … Show more
S&P Global's ratings and indices could form an exceptionally profitable, wide-moat standalone business. Without its other units, their implied operating margin would be around 68%, among the market's top five; that makes further spinoffs sensible, though the separation is hypothetical. x.com x.comÂ
S&P Global's moat may be weaker than its ratings pricing power suggests, and its gross profit dollars are likely to come under pressure as AI does more of the work, even if margins rise. FICO and the credit bureaus once looked just as required and oligopolistic until Vantage, with regulatory help, built a better product and upended pricing. The market is skeptical of historical data resale, as with CoStar and Verisk; the index business looks durable. x.comÂ
BlackRock will eventually be hit when increasingly weak market breadth blows up, though not yet. There is nothing to worry about as long as the 4Q21 level, the S&P 500-to-gold cyclical peak, acts as support and the monthly 20-period moving average holds. x.comÂ
The market is wrong to reprice Moody's and S&P Global just because yields are rising. Per @moats_multiples' notes from a TCI call, Chris Hohn is very confident about ratings-agency growth, with investment-grade ratings supported by the AI buildout and sub-investment-grade by huge maturity walls. TCI's large positions in both fit that view. x.comÂ
US large-cap equities face an AI-leadership valuation reset, not yet a recession selloff. AI capex is outrunning visible monetization, and semiconductors were the most crowded trade in Bank of America's July survey, so stocks can beat estimates and still fall. Brent near $100 and a 4.68% 10-year yield compress multiples, and the S&P 500 entered at about 20.1x forward earnings versus a 19.0x 10-year average. Big Tech earnings and the late-July Fed meeting will decide if a deeper reset follows. … Show more
US stocks need not rise just because profits are strong: that is first-level thinking, and everyone already knows earnings are growing. P/E multiples fell over the past six months despite upward EPS revisions, and years like 2018, 2006, 2005 and 2004 saw EPS growth near 17-20% with weak or negative index returns. Valuations sit in the 98th percentile, inflation, rates and deficits are rising, policy may turn anti-corporate after November, and AI capex has inflated profits. x.comÂ
S&P Global and Moody's look pretty cheap for a duopoly growing 10-11% a year, trading at 20-25 times earnings, with S&P Global the cheaper of the two. x.comÂ
The S&P 500 looks set to roll over because it skipped the retest that has followed every breakout for six years. Each time it broke to all-time highs, ran into price discovery, then topped and retested prior highs before starting over; this time there was no retest, while bond yields are soaring and war is driving them higher. A correction comes every cycle, more likely than not, though an 8% drop would be a pullback rather than a crash. x.com x.comÂ