S&P Global Q2 Earnings Call Highlights
Key Points
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- S Global exceeded second-quarter expectations, with revenue up 11% year over year, adjusted EPS up 23%, and margin expansion of 200 basis points. Ratings and Indices were the primary growth drivers, posting revenue increases of 17% and 20%, respectively.
- The company raised its outlook for hyperscaler issuance to $250 billion-$300 billion for the full year and increased its 2026 share-repurchase target to more than $7 billion. Mobility Global proceeds and additional planned debt issuance will primarily fund buybacks, with $500 million allocated to debt retirement.
- S Global is emphasizing AI, data and workflow solutions through its Market Intelligence reorganization and acquisitions such as datacenterHawk. AI adoption is accelerating, with more than 500 customers using Kensho APIs and nearly 60% of targeted annualized cost savings already achieved.
S Global (NYSE:SPGI) reported second-quarter results that exceeded its expectations, supported by strong performance in its Ratings and Indices benchmark businesses, while raising its 2026 share repurchase target to more than $7 billion.
President and Chief Executive Officer Martina Cheung said total revenue grew 11% year over year on both a reported and organic constant-currency basis. Recurring revenue rose 8%, while benchmark-business revenue increased 15%. Adjusted diluted earnings per share grew 23%, aided by 200 basis points of margin expansion and disciplined expense management.
The company completed the spin-off of its former Mobility division on July 1, creating an independent publicly traded company, Mobility Global. S Global also realigned its Energy and Market Intelligence operations, creating new reporting lines and emphasizing data, artificial intelligence tools and workflow solutions.
Ratings and Indices Drive Benchmark Growth
Ratings delivered a record revenue quarter, with revenue rising 17% year over year. Transaction revenue increased 25%, including high-20% growth in investment-grade revenue, supported by technology infrastructure and hyperscaler issuance as well as merger-and-acquisition activity. Revenue also grew by double digits in bank loans, high yield and structured finance, while private-markets Ratings revenue increased 60%.
Cheung said billed issuance increased 25% in the quarter and noted that S Global saw about $169 billion in billed issuance from hyperscalers during the first half. The company now assumes $250 billion to $300 billion in hyperscaler issuance for the full year, compared with its prior outlook of about $200 billion.
The company expects mid- to high-single-digit billed issuance growth and double-digit growth in M issuance for the year. Cheung also cited a large refinancing opportunity, with approximately $11 trillion in rated debt expected to come due over the next four and a half years.
Ratings adjusted operating margin expanded 310 basis points to 68.5%, reflecting the division’s high fixed-cost, low-variable-cost model, according to Chief Financial Officer Eric Aboaf.
S Dow Jones Indices recorded its 13th consecutive quarter of record revenue. Revenue climbed 20%, with asset-linked fees up 22% and exchange-traded derivatives revenue also up 22%. The division’s operating margin rose 90 basis points to 71.5%.
ETF assets under management tied to S Dow Jones Indices ended the quarter at $6.35 trillion. Cheung said the franchise captured more than $600 billion in year-over-year net inflows and that June marked the first time an ETF based on the S 500 surpassed $1 trillion in assets under management.
Energy Faces Near-Term Volatility
Energy revenue grew 3% in the quarter as conflict in the Middle East, tariffs, sanctions and extreme market volatility pressured subscription renewals, one-time sales and Global Trading Services. Aboaf said the company views those pressures as transitory and continues to expect Energy growth to normalize toward the 6% to 8% average range outlined at its investor day after 2026.
Platts revenue increased 4%, driven by growth in price assessments, partly offset by lower Global Trading Services revenue. CERA revenue increased 1%, as growth in Market Insights and Analytics was offset by declines in upstream and conference and training revenue. Lower event attendance related to the Middle East conflict weighed on conference revenue.
Energy’s adjusted expenses increased 1%, and its adjusted operating margin expanded 70 basis points to 47.5%.
The company said it is pursuing longer-term growth opportunities related to AI infrastructure, power demand and evolving supply chains. It announced an agreement to acquire datacenterHawk, which Cheung said will be combined with 451 Research and energy forecasting assets to expand its data-center capabilities. S Global also remains on track to launch its AI-native CERA Titan platform for upstream data later this year.
Market Intelligence Reorganization Emphasizes Data and AI
Market Intelligence revenue rose 6% on both a reported and organic constant-currency basis. Subscription revenue grew 6%, aided partly by upfront revenue from a 10-year software renewal, while volume-driven revenue increased 9%. One-time revenue declined 2%, primarily because of lower consulting and Sustainable1 revenue.
The division will report through two business lines: Kensho Data and Platforms, and Enterprise Solutions. Kensho Data includes data feeds, LLM-ready APIs, RatingsXpress and proprietary data assets. Cheung said this business is roughly half the size of Platforms by revenue but is growing in the high-single-digit to low-double-digit organic range. Platforms, which includes Capital IQ, RatingsDirect, Visible Alpha and With Intelligence, is growing in the low-single-digit range organically.
Enterprise Solutions includes lending, pricing and reference data, valuation, origination and risk-analytics offerings. The company said it will focus investment on its highest-growth opportunities while seeking productivity and AI-driven cost savings in more mature platforms.
Market Intelligence adjusted operating margin expanded 120 basis points to 36%. Aboaf said the company has identified several smaller products facing headwinds, while Cheung said the company may consider strategic choices for subscale offerings if growth does not return.
AI Adoption and Updated Outlook
Cheung said customers using S Global’s AI products are growing faster than the broader customer base. In Market Intelligence, annual contract value growth among AI customers is 60% faster, while in Energy it is about three times the broader rate. The number of customers using Kensho LLM-ready APIs and MCP-connected solutions exceeded 500, up more than 70% from the prior quarter, and API call volume was more than five times first-quarter levels.
The Enterprise Data Organization has achieved nearly 60% of its targeted $100 million in annualized cost savings through AI-driven efficiencies and other productivity initiatives. S Global expects to achieve the full target before the end of 2027.
- Consolidated organic constant-currency revenue growth: 6% to 8%
- Ratings revenue growth: 5% to 8%
- Indices revenue growth: 12% to 14%
- Market Intelligence revenue growth: 5.5% to 7%
- Energy revenue growth: 4.5% to 6%
- Adjusted EPS: $17.50 to $17.75
- Consolidated margin expansion excluding OSTTRA: 75 to 100 basis points
The company plans to use approximately $2 billion in proceeds from Mobility Global primarily for buybacks, with $500 million earmarked for debt retirement. It also expects to issue $2 billion in additional debt in the second half to support further repurchases, subject to market conditions.
About S Global (NYSE:SPGI)
S Global is a leading provider of financial information, analytics and benchmark indices that serve investors, issuers, corporations and public institutions worldwide. The company operates through well-known businesses that include credit ratings, market intelligence and index licensing, as well as commodity and energy information services. Its products and services are used to assess creditworthiness, inform investment decisions, construct and track benchmark portfolios, and support risk and commodity market analysis.
S Global Ratings provides independent credit ratings, research and data used by fixed income investors and capital market participants to evaluate issuer and transaction risk.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
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