BIPS of (Fin) Info: FDS accelerates ASV again; numbers raised for SPGI & MCO Issuance + MSCI / AUM; and MBGL goes live

Research evidence excerpt

BIPS of (Fin) Info: FDS accelerates ASV again; numbers raised for SPGI & MCO Issuance + MSCI / AUM; and MBGL goes live

Equity Research

2 July 2026

BIPS of (Fin) Info

FDS accelerates ASV again;

numbers raised for SPGI & MCO

U.S. Business & Professional ServicesIssuance + MSCI / AUM; and MBGL

NEUTRAL

Unchangedgoes live U.S. Business & Professional Services

A busy week for Fin Info with: a) FDS reporting a solid +7% Manav Patnaik

+1 212 526 2983

ASV growth print amidst all the AI fears (but enough to shift manav.patnaik@barclays.com

narrative?); b) SPGI & MCO credit issuance on pace for a BCI, US

2Q26e beat and record year; similar to c) MSCI & SPDJI AUMs; Ronan Kennedy, CPA +1 212 526 2912

and d) MBGL finally spins-off as a standalone name. ronan.kennedy@barclays.com

BCI, US

Starting with FDS, which reported F3Q'26 earnings yesterday (Figure 1).

Shares closed +6.7% (vs. SPX -0.2%) following yet another quarter of

sequential acceleration in ASV growth...

...partly due to early adoption of its MCP plug in – i.e. over 10% of organic ASV growth in FQ3

came directly from AI related SKUs, with a much bigger impact on broader ASV growth. Based

on intra-quarter commentary, F3Q26's acceleration in organic ASV growth was expected, but

+7.1% was a bit better and more comforting – especially when coupled with positive

management commentary around the pipeline, MCP adoption and partnerships + FY26

guidance reiterated towards the high end for revenue and EPS (see Figure 2). Margins were

perhaps the one area to nit-pick, with incentive comp tied to sales quotas to be blamed, which

might continue and why we expect margins to settle at the mid-point of the guidance range.

• Model updates: We now model organic ASV growth of $165M/+7% (vs. 154M/+6.6% prior), which