Earnings results often indicate what direction a company will take in the months ahead. With Q2 behind us, let’s have a look at MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) and its peers.
Financial exchanges and data providers operate trading platforms and sell market information. They enjoy relatively stable revenue from trading fees and subscriptions, increasing demand for data analytics, and expansion opportunities in emerging markets. Challenges include regulatory oversight of market structure, competition from alternative trading venues, and substantial technology investments needed to maintain low-latency trading infrastructure and data security.
The 10 financial exchanges & data stocks we track reported a satisfactory Q2. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.6%.
Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 6.1% on average since the latest earnings results.
MSCI (NYSE:MSCI)
Originally known as Morgan Stanley Capital International before becoming independent in 2007, MSCI (NYSE:MSCI) provides critical decision support tools, indexes, and analytics that help global investors understand risk and return factors and build more effective investment portfolios.
MSCI reported revenues of $867 million, up 12.2% year on year. This print was in line with analysts’ expectations, but overall, it was a mixed quarter for the company.
MSCI delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates among its peers. The market seems disappointed with the results as the stock is down 8.5% since reporting and currently trades at $572.27.
Read our full report on MSCI here, it’s free.
Best Q2: Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN)
Founded in 1984 by Joe Mansueto with just $80,000 in personal savings, Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) provides independent investment data, research, and analysis tools that help investors, advisors, and institutions make informed financial decisions.
Morningstar reported revenues of $663.2 million, up 9.6% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.2%. The business had a very strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA and EPS estimates.
The market seems content with the results as the stock is up 4.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $206.86.
Is now the time to buy Morningstar? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Weakest Q2: S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI)
Tracing its roots back to 1860 when it published the first railroad industry manual, S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) provides credit ratings, market intelligence, commodity data, automotive analytics, and financial indices that help investors and businesses make decisions.
