greeksoup/ stock research

Morningstar, Inc.: Q2 FY2026 earnings call

What management said about Q2 FY2026, from the documents filed with the SEC on 29 July 2026: press release. The quarter’s numbers.

Key takeaways

  • Revenue and organic growth: Reported revenue rose 9.6% to $663.2 million, and organic revenue rose 6.8%. Excluding the sunsetting of certain products, organic growth would have been 8.2%. Source
  • Operating and adjusted margins widened: Operating income rose 28.4% to $160.6 million, and adjusted operating income rose 22.7% to $175.9 million. Operating margin was 24.2% against 20.7%; adjusted margin 26.5% against 23.7%. Source
  • Morningstar Credit grew fastest: Credit revenue rose 23.4% to $104.9 million, 23.3% organic. Adjusted operating income rose 26.2% to $38.5 million; adjusted margin was 36.7%. Source
  • Free cash flow rose: Operating cash flow rose 57.3% to $155.7 million. Free cash flow rose 96.3% to $122.5 million on higher cash earnings and lower capital expenditures. Source
  • Accelerating an ambitious strategy: Management described building agentic workflows and tools on its data, research and intellectual property to speed insights. Source
  • Public and private markets convergence: Management is putting more weight on helping investors across public and private markets, alongside Credit and Wealth activity. Source

“We are continuing to deliver profitable growth with meaningful increases in operating and free cash flows”

Kunal Kapoor, Morningstar's CEO

What changed from last quarter

  • New: Morningstar Wealth announced a collaboration with leading asset managers to create public/private models. Source
  • New: New and expanded collaborations with leading model and enterprise technology providers broaden access to Morningstar content. Source

Results and growth drivers

  • Revenue and organic growth: Reported revenue rose 9.6% to $663.2 million, and organic revenue rose 6.8%. Excluding the sunsetting of certain products, organic growth would have been 8.2%. Source
  • Largest organic contributors named: Management named Morningstar Credit, Morningstar Direct Platform and PitchBook as the largest contributors to organic revenue growth. Source
  • Operating and adjusted margins widened: Operating income rose 28.4% to $160.6 million, and adjusted operating income rose 22.7% to $175.9 million. Operating margin was 24.2% against 20.7%; adjusted margin 26.5% against 23.7%. Source
  • Diluted EPS rose: Diluted EPS rose 35.4% to $2.83 from $2.09. Adjusted diluted EPS rose 29.2% to $3.10 from $2.40. Source
  • Year-to-date growth: Year-to-date revenue rose 10.2% to $1.3 billion. Operating income rose 32.3% to $316.5 million, and diluted EPS rose 41.9% to $5.55. Source

Segments and regions

  • Morningstar Credit grew fastest: Credit revenue rose 23.4% to $104.9 million, 23.3% organic. Adjusted operating income rose 26.2% to $38.5 million; adjusted margin was 36.7%. Source
  • Direct Platform profit rose modestly: Direct Platform revenue rose 6.2% to $222.1 million, 4.8% organic. Adjusted operating income rose 4.2% to $100.3 million; adjusted margin 45.2%, down 0.8 points. Source
  • PitchBook revenue rose modestly: PitchBook revenue rose 4.9% to $174.7 million, and licensed users were relatively flat. Adjusted operating income rose 0.4% to $53.0 million; adjusted margin 30.3%, down 1.4 points. Source
  • Wealth revenue fell, profit rose: Wealth revenue fell 6.2% to $60.3 million, 4.6% organic. Adjusted operating income rose 163.3% to $7.9 million, and adjusted margin rose 8.4 points to 13.1%. Source
  • Retirement revenue and profit rose: Retirement revenue rose 17.0% to $37.9 million. Adjusted operating income rose 26.0% to $19.4 million; adjusted margin 51.2%, up 3.7 points. Source
  • Corporate and All Other impact narrowed: Corporate and All Other revenue rose 32.7% to $63.3 million, 1.2% organic. Its impact on adjusted operating income was negative $43.2 million, against negative $54.6 million. Source

“Morningstar is accelerating an ambitious strategy, unlocking speed to insights by building agentic workflows and tools atop our data, research, and intellectual property.”

Kunal Kapoor, Morningstar's CEO

Products and customers

  • Credit ratings breadth: Credit revenue grew across geographies and most asset classes, led by US structured finance ratings and Canadian and US corporates. Source
  • Data growth from new use cases: Morningstar Data growth came from existing clients adopting new use cases, with continued growth in managed investment data and Essentials. Exchange market data softened. Source
  • Direct revenue per license up: Direct revenue per license increased, and reporting solutions expanded with existing clients, while Direct licenses were relatively flat. Source
  • Product sunsetting weighs on organic: Sunsetting Morningstar Office and the Sustainalytics second-party opinions product reduced organic revenue growth. Source
  • Morningstar Indexes revenue up: Indexes revenue rose from $20.4 million to $37.8 million, with reported growth driven mainly by the CRSP acquisition. Source

Costs

  • Compensation drove expense growth: Operating expense rose 5.9% to $509.4 million. Compensation rose $7.4 million, mainly on higher stock-based compensation and bonus expense reflecting performance against targets. Source
  • Cloud and AI technology costs: Technology infrastructure costs rose $6.7 million, including cloud spending tied to moving off on-premise data centers and computer and software costs for AI initiatives. Source
  • Amortization from CRSP acquisition: Intangible amortization rose $5.6 million. General and administrative expense rose 20.1% to $98.5 million. Source

“Momentum is building with continued strength in Morningstar Credit partly driven by private ratings activity”

Kunal Kapoor, Morningstar's CEO

Margins, pricing and tax

  • CRSP accretive to adjusted margin: The CRSP acquisition added to adjusted operating margin in the quarter. Source
  • PitchBook margin pressured: PitchBook margin fell on added headcount for new growth initiatives, along with higher technology costs for AI initiatives. Source
  • Direct margin also hit by cloud: Direct Platform margin also reflected cloud-related technology costs. Targeted reorganizations in the fourth quarter of 2025 partly offset the compensation increase. Source
  • Effective tax rate rose: Effective tax rate was 26.2%, up from 22.8%, due to a negative tax impact from stock-based compensation vesting in 2026. Deferred taxes on unremitted foreign earnings also contributed. Source

Demand and the order book

  • PitchBook demand mixed by segment: PitchBook growth came from most core investor and advisor segments. Venture capital softness and corporate churn offset part of it. Source
  • Retirement assets rose on flows: Retirement assets rose on market gains and positive net flows into traditional and Advisor Managed Accounts. Source
  • Model portfolios and international platform grew: Combined model portfolio and International Wealth Platform assets rose 16.2%, on market appreciation and net flows outside the US. Source

Capital, cash and returns to shareholders

  • Free cash flow rose: Operating cash flow rose 57.3% to $155.7 million. Free cash flow rose 96.3% to $122.5 million on higher cash earnings and lower capital expenditures. Source
  • Share buybacks in quarter and year: The company repurchased 567,844 shares for $100.0 million in the quarter, and 2,291,256 shares for $400.0 million year to date. Source
  • Dividends and net debt movement: Dividends paid were $19.0 million. Debt increased by $0.3 million, net, during the quarter. Source
  • Cash and debt at June 30: Cash, cash equivalents and investments were $523.8 million at June 30, 2026, against $1.7 billion of debt, up from $1.1 billion at December 31, 2025. Source

Strategy and investment

  • Accelerating an ambitious strategy: Management described building agentic workflows and tools on its data, research and intellectual property to speed insights. Source
  • Public and private markets convergence: Management is putting more weight on helping investors across public and private markets, alongside Credit and Wealth activity. Source
  • Semiliquid fund research expanded: Research coverage was expanded, including the latest State of Semiliquid Funds report. Source

People and leadership

  • Headcount added for Credit growth: Credit compensation rose on added headcount to support growth, alongside higher bonus expense. Source
  • Resources moved to Direct growth: Research and sales resources were moved to support Direct Platform growth priorities. Source

Coming up, as management said on 29 July 2026

  • Monthly written investor responses: Written responses to selected investor questions will be furnished on Form 8-K monthly, except in months when earnings are released. Source

Figures management reported

FigureReported
Total AUMA (approximate), June 30, 2026 Source$375 billion
Morningstar Retirement AUMA Source$311.0 billion
Investment Management AUMA Source$63.8 billion
Asset value linked to Morningstar Indexes Source$3,608.5 billion

Risks management discussed

  • Demand: Venture capital softness and elevated corporate churn weighed on PitchBook growth. Source
  • Demand: Softness in exchange market data offset part of Morningstar Data growth. Source
  • Demand: Loss of an Asset Allocation Services client reduced Investment Management AUMA, though its revenue share was negligible. Source
  • Operational: Technology infrastructure costs rose on cloud migration and AI initiatives, adding to operating expense. 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.