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Morningstar, Inc.: Q4 FY2025 earnings call

What management said about Q4 FY2025, from the documents filed with the SEC on 12 February 2026: press release. The quarter’s numbers.

Key takeaways

  • Revenue grew 8.5% in the quarter: Reported revenue rose 8.5% to $641.1 million, with organic revenue up 8.1%. Full-year reported revenue rose 7.5% to $2.4 billion, with organic revenue up 8.0%. Source
  • Operating income fell while adjusted rose: Operating income includes a $22.7 million contingent payment gain on the US TAMP sale, against $64.0 million a year earlier. Both gains are excluded from adjusted operating income. Source
  • Credit revenue rose 27.9%: Credit grew 25.7% organically. Corporate ratings revenue globally, and structured finance ratings in the US and Europe, were the main contributors. Source
  • Compensation drove expense growth: Operating expense rose 3.8% to $505.1 million, with $15.9 million of severance inside the compensation increase. Source
  • Quarterly operating margin fell: Adjusted operating margin rose to 23.9% from 20.6%. The US TAMP gain reduced operating margin by 3.5 points in 2025, against 10.9 points in 2024. Source
  • Fourth-quarter cash flow rose: Fourth-quarter operating cash flow rose 33.0% to $204.0 million, and free cash flow rose 43.0% to $161.3 million. Source

“"Morningstar grew revenue, operating income, and adjusted operating income meaningfully in 2025,"”

Kunal Kapoor, Morningstar's chief executive officer

What changed from last quarter

  • New: The Center for Research in Security Prices acquisition closed on Feb. 2, 2026. The prior release had described it as planned. Source
  • New: The credit agreement was refinanced on Oct. 31, 2025, with a multi-currency facility of up to $1.5 billion. Source

Results and growth drivers

  • Revenue grew 8.5% in the quarter: Reported revenue rose 8.5% to $641.1 million, with organic revenue up 8.1%. Full-year reported revenue rose 7.5% to $2.4 billion, with organic revenue up 8.0%. Source
  • Operating income fell while adjusted rose: Operating income includes a $22.7 million contingent payment gain on the US TAMP sale, against $64.0 million a year earlier. Both gains are excluded from adjusted operating income. Source
  • Full-year diluted EPS rose 3.4%: Full-year diluted EPS rose 3.4% to $8.87. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 25.0% to $9.86. The US TAMP sale gain added $0.40 to 2025 diluted EPS. Source
  • Tax rate rose in the quarter: The effective tax rate was 24.0% in the fourth quarter, up from 22.5%. The full-year rate was 24.5%, against 21.9% in the prior year. Source

Segments and regions

  • Credit revenue rose 27.9%: Credit grew 25.7% organically. Corporate ratings revenue globally, and structured finance ratings in the US and Europe, were the main contributors. Source
  • Direct Platform revenue rose 7.7%: Organic revenue grew 6.0%. Adjusted operating income rose 8.0% to $92.3 million, with adjusted operating margin at 43.7%. Source
  • PitchBook revenue rose 6.2%: Organic revenue grew 5.9%. Adjusted operating income rose 7.0% to $52.1 million, with adjusted operating margin at 30.2%. Source
  • Wealth revenue fell reported, rose organic: Reported revenue fell 2.0% while organic revenue rose 6.3%, driven by Investment Management and advertising sales. Adjusted operating margin was 6.8%, against negative 1.2%. Source
  • Retirement revenue rose 13.4%: Revenue rose 13.4% on both reported and organic bases. Adjusted operating income rose 20.9% to $20.8 million, with adjusted operating margin at 54.6%. Source

“At the same time, we continue to advance our ambition to become the common language for investors navigating the convergence of public and private markets.”

Kunal Kapoor, Morningstar's chief executive officer

Products and customers

  • Sustainalytics revenue declined: Sustainalytics quarterly revenue was $27.8 million, against $29.4 million a year earlier. Full-year revenue was $112.0 million, against $117.3 million. Source
  • Indexes revenue rose modestly: Indexes revenue was $22.5 million for the quarter, up from $22.2 million. Full-year revenue was $87.7 million, against $84.7 million. Source
  • Data growth from existing clients: Morningstar Data growth came from existing clients using new use cases. Particular strength was in managed investment data and Morningstar Essentials. Source
  • Wealth AUMA growth from markets and flows: Wealth AUMA growth came from market performance and net flows to model portfolios on third-party platforms and the International Wealth Platform, offset by TAMP sale outflows. Source

Costs and compensation

  • Compensation drove expense growth: Operating expense rose 3.8% to $505.1 million, with $15.9 million of severance inside the compensation increase. Source
  • Bonus expense lower year over year: Fourth-quarter bonus expense was lower than a year earlier and was roughly flat across 2025 against 2024, despite elevated bonus expense tied to full-year performance against targets. Source
  • Technology infrastructure costs increased: Technology infrastructure costs rose in the quarter. Source
  • Corporate and All Other cost impact: Corporate and All Other's impact on adjusted operating income was negative $50.8 million, against negative $49.1 million a year earlier. Unallocated corporate expenses were $47.1 million. Source
  • Severance in two segments: Morningstar Direct Platform recorded $3.5 million and PitchBook $3.1 million in severance costs tied to targeted reorganizations. Source

“As we kick off 2026, we are using AI to further scale our research and data moat.”

Kunal Kapoor, Morningstar's chief executive officer

Margins and pricing

  • Quarterly operating margin fell: Adjusted operating margin rose to 23.9% from 20.6%. The US TAMP gain reduced operating margin by 3.5 points in 2025, against 10.9 points in 2024. Source
  • Full-year adjusted margin rose: Full-year adjusted operating margin was 23.8%, against 21.7%. Full-year operating margin was 21.5%, against 21.3%. Source
  • Credit margin expanded: Credit adjusted operating income rose to $34.8 million, and its adjusted operating margin rose to 33.0%. Source
  • Direct pricing reflected per-license revenue: Direct growth reflected higher revenue per license, along with expansion in reporting solutions with existing clients. Source

Demand and asset flows

  • Retirement AUMA growth drivers: Management attributed Retirement AUMA growth to market gains and positive net flows, supported by growth in managed accounts, fiduciary services and custom models. Source
  • Credit growth tied to issuance: Management tied Credit growth across regions and asset classes to the issuance market. Source
  • PitchBook growth from core clients: PitchBook revenue growth came mainly from its core investor and advisor client segments, and from the direct data business. Source

Capital, cash and returns to shareholders

  • Fourth-quarter cash flow rose: Fourth-quarter operating cash flow rose 33.0% to $204.0 million, and free cash flow rose 43.0% to $161.3 million. Source
  • Full-year cash flow declined slightly: Full-year operating cash flow fell 0.3% to $589.7 million, and free cash flow fell 1.4% to $442.6 million. Source
  • Year-end cash and debt: Debt rose from $698.6 million at the prior year end. Of year-end debt, $373.5 million was outstanding under the three-year term facility and $350.0 million under the revolver. Source
  • Full-year capital deployment: In 2025, debt rose by $374.0 million net, with $76.9 million of dividends, $39.0 million of acquisitions and $787.0 million of buybacks at an average $240.17 per share. Source
  • Fourth-quarter buybacks: 1,780,259 shares were repurchased in the fourth quarter for $385.3 million, at an average of $216.42 per share. Source

Strategy and investment

  • AI integrations with language models: Management cited new integrations with large language models, including ChatGPT by OpenAI. Source
  • Index suite for private markets: Management cited the launch of an index suite for evergreen private markets as part of helping investors navigate changing markets. Source
  • Sustainalytics shifts to licensing: Sustainalytics is moving toward licensing the use and distribution of existing ratings and underlying data. Source

Investor communication

  • Written questions invited from investors: Morningstar invites analysts, shareholders and others to send questions in writing to investors@morningstar.com. Source
  • Monthly written responses in 8-Ks: Written responses to selected investor questions are furnished in Form 8-Ks to all investors at the same time, generally every month. Source
  • Quarterly shareholder letter published: The quarterly shareholder letter gives more context on results, business and capital allocation, and is available at shareholders.morningstar.com. Source

Coming up, as management said on 12 February 2026

  • Annual shareholder meeting on May 7: Meeting in Chicago on Thursday, May 7, 2026 at 9 a.m. Central, with management presentations and a live question session in person and online. Source
  • Meeting details to follow in proxy: Details of the business to be covered and registration instructions will be given in the proxy statement at a later date. Source

Figures management reported

FigureReported
Average AUMA ($bil), fourth quarter Source$373.3 billion, up 12.0%
Investment Management AUMA ($bil) Source$72.8 billion, up 16.9%
Asset value linked to Morningstar Indexes ($bil) Source$252.3 billion, up 19.6%
Morningstar Direct licenses Sourceflat year over year
PitchBook licensed user counts Sourcerelatively flat year over year

Risks management discussed

  • Demand: Management cited continued softness in PitchBook's corporate client segment, especially smaller firms with limited use cases, with churn offsetting new logos. Source
  • Demand: The Sustainalytics revenue decline reflects streamlining of the licensed-ratings offering and softness in second-party opinions. Source
  • Operational: The ongoing sunsetting of Morningstar Office reduced reported and organic revenue by $3.0 million. Source

Other quarters

Summarised with AI from the documents the company filed with the SEC. Every point is checked against the filing before it is shown: management’s own words word for word, figures against the line or table row they come from. A point that fails the check is left out. Source opens the filing at that line.