Moody’s seen as AI-era data play as Berkshire keeps two-decade holding

Traders Union
All News
Stocks
Moody’s as AI data play

Highlights

Moody’s stock fell over 19% to about $402 by mid-February amid an AI-driven sell-off but is now testing the upper end of its range.
Moody’s CEO Rob Fauber reported research usage by Model Context Protocol users more than quadrupled in three months, with content reach tripling daily, reflecting increased AI integration.
Berkshire Hathaway maintained its 24.7 million share stake in Moody’s worth $11 billion through Q2, signaling confidence in the long-term value of Moody’s proprietary financial data.

AI demand sharpens focus on Moody’s data franchise

As reported by CNBC, the investment case being made for Moody’s centers on the value of its debt ratings, research and risk analytics data as financial clients build artificial intelligence tools into their workflows. The company’s position in data used by banks, insurers, companies and governments is being presented as more durable because much of that information cannot be easily scraped from public sources.

In the source text, Moody’s is described as having fallen more than 19% by mid-February, touching about $402 before spending much of the year moving within a wide trading range. The stock is now testing the upper end of that range, after being swept into an earlier AI-driven sell-off that also affected other data and analytics names.

Moody’s CEO Rob Fauber said on the company’s third-quarter call that customers are feeding Moody’s research directly into their own AI platforms. He also said Model Context Protocol users have more than quadrupled in three months, usage is up more than tenfold, and analysts are reaching three times more content per day, underscoring management’s argument that AI is increasing the value of trusted data sets.

Berkshire’s unchanged stake supports long-term view

Berkshire Hathaway has owned Moody’s since 2000, and its latest 13F for the quarter ended June 30 shows about 24.7 million shares valued at roughly $11 billion. The filing indicates the conglomerate kept its share count unchanged from the prior quarter, suggesting it neither cut nor added to the position during the volatility tied to AI concerns.

That steady ownership adds weight to the view that Moody’s business may benefit rather than suffer as AI adoption expands across financial services. For the sector more broadly, the argument is that proprietary, verified and hard-to-replicate data could become more commercially important as large language models require approved, high-quality inputs to support analysis and decision-making.

As we noted earlier, sovereign ratings pressure is rising as geopolitical shocks and fiscal spending lift funding risks.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.