Initiate at Buy—A High-Quality Compounder with a Multi-Year Runway

Research evidence excerpt

Initiate at Buy—A High-Quality Compounder with a Multi-Year Runway

MSCI Inc. (MSCI)

Equity Research

July 17, 2026

Executive Summary

We initiate coverage of MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI) with a Buy rating and a 12-month price target of

$760. MSCI is a leading provider of investment indexes, portfolio analytics, ESG and climate data,

and risk-management tools that investors use to benchmark performance, construct portfolios, and

make investment decisions. The company serves approx. 6,700 clients in more than 100 countries.

Revenues are geographically diverse and highly recurring in nature.

Over the past 5 years, MSCI has organically grown revenues at a high-single-digit CAGR, and adj EPS at

double-digit CAGR. Over the next three years, the company is well-positioned to grow these figures at a

similar pace, which we model as a +9.7% and +15.2% CAGR, respectively. This reflects the company's

leadership position within its markets, and the strong moat it enjoys, which appears sustainable. More

near-term, we view 2026 guidance as highly achievable and are modeling revenue growth of +12.7%

y/y and adj EPS growth of +16.8% y/y.

In establishing our Buy rating, we also note the following considerations:

1. Market leader in indexing solutions with expanding use cases

2. Resilient recurring revenue model with strong customer retention

3. Expanding beyond traditional client base to higher-growth segments and private assets

4. Leader in sustainability and climate solutions, which has started to rebound

5. Strong financial framework preferring internal investment and return of capital

Valuation

Our $760 price target is derived by applying an above peer group multiple of 32.5x to our 2027

adjusted EPS estimate of $23.28. Our forward P/E multiple is supported by an analysis of comparable