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FDS vs SPGI
Which Stock Would AI Choose? FactSet Research Systems (FDS) vs. S&P Global (SPGI) Stock Comparison
Key Takeaways
- FactSet Research Systems (FDS) and S&P Global (SPGI) both operate in the financial data and analytics industry, yet they serve different segments of the market ecosystem with contrasting scale and diversification.
- SPGI commands a market capitalization roughly 14 times larger than FDS, reflecting its broader portfolio spanning credit ratings, indices, commodity insights, and market intelligence.
- Both stocks have experienced meaningful price corrections over the past twelve months, though SPGI has demonstrated greater relative resilience with a significantly shallower drawdown than FDS.
- FDS trades at a notably lower P/E ratio (price-to-earnings ratio, a valuation metric) and offers a higher dividend yield, appealing to value-oriented investors, while SPGI commands a premium multiple supported by wider competitive moats.
- Recent weeks have shown a recovery in both names, with each posting double-digit gains over the trailing one-month period, suggesting shifting sentiment across the financial data sector.
- Operating margins tell a clear story: SPGI's ~39% margin significantly outpaces FDS's ~31%, reflecting the higher-margin profile of SPGI's ratings and indices businesses.
Introduction
Investors evaluating opportunities in the financial information and analytics space frequently encounter two prominent names: FDS (FactSet Research Systems) and SPGI (S&P Global Inc.). Though both companies generate revenue by delivering essential data, analytics, and intelligence to financial professionals, their business models, growth profiles, and risk characteristics differ substantially. This stock comparison examines how these two firms stack up in the current market environment — a period marked by ongoing debates around artificial intelligence disruption, shifting interest rate expectations, and evolving demand for financial data services. The analysis that follows is designed for traders assessing near-term momentum and for long-term investors weighing durable competitive advantages and relative performance.
FDS Overview and Recent Performance
FDS, headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, provides integrated financial information and analytical applications to the global investment community. The company serves buy-side institutions, sell-side firms, wealth managers, and corporate clients through a subscription-based platform spanning proprietary data feeds, portfolio analytics, and workflow tools. In recent quarters, FactSet has reported GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) revenues exceeding $600 million per quarter, with organic revenue growth in the 5–6% range year-over-year. Its Organic ASV — Annual Subscription Value, a key metric measuring committed recurring client spend — has continued expanding, reaching approximately $2.4 billion in the most recent reported period.
Despite steady operational execution, FDS shares have faced substantial pressure over the trailing twelve months, declining sharply from levels above $400 to a 52-week low near $185 before staging a meaningful recovery. Several factors have weighed on sentiment: industry-wide concerns about AI-driven disruption to traditional financial data workflows, an ongoing CEO transition that introduced near-term uncertainty, and cautious commentary from peers in the data and software space. Compounding these headwinds, the stock's valuation compressed dramatically — its P/E ratio fell from above 30x to the mid-teens. Encouragingly, recent weeks have brought a notable rebound, with the stock gaining over 13% in the past month, supported by a newly expanded $1 billion share repurchase authorization and improved free cash flow generation. The company reported its best-ever quarter for new sales in late fiscal 2025, and management has emphasized how AI tools are being embedded into FactSet's platform as an enhancement rather than a threat.
SPGI Overview and Recent Performance
SPGI — S&P Global Inc. — operates one of the most diversified and deeply entrenched franchises in global financial markets. With headquarters in New York City, the company runs five primary divisions: S&P Global Ratings (credit ratings on sovereigns, corporates, and structured finance), S&P Dow Jones Indices (co-owned with CME Group, licensing benchmarks underlying trillions in passive assets), Market Intelligence (data, analytics, and research), Commodity Insights (energy and commodity pricing and analytics), and Mobility (automotive data). In the most recent fiscal year, SPGI generated over $15.3 billion in total revenue, with the Ratings segment alone contributing more than $4.7 billion. Revenue growth has decelerated from double-digit rates toward the high single digits, reflecting a normalization in debt issuance following the post-pandemic surge.
SPGI shares, which touched an all-time high near $559 in mid-2025, have also corrected meaningfully in the months since, declining roughly 8–9% on a trailing one-year basis and touching levels below $390 before regaining ground. Compared to FDS, SPGI's drawdown has been considerably less severe, a testament to the defensive qualities embedded in its ratings and indices franchises, which benefit from regulatory mandates and structural market demand. The stock has rebounded approximately 14% in the most recent month, buoyed by resilient bond issuance activity and steady subscription revenue growth across Market Intelligence and Commodity Insights. With an operating margin hovering near 39% and free cash flow margin around 37%, SPGI continues to convert a large share of revenue into cash, supporting both its dividend program and ongoing share repurchases. The company's ROI (Return on Investment) has trended upward, reaching approximately 15.8% in the most recent period.
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Head-to-Head Comparison
While FDS and SPGI both belong to the financial data and analytics industry, they diverge sharply across several dimensions that matter to investors. The most obvious difference is scale: SPGI's market capitalization of roughly $133 billion dwarfs FDS's approximately $9 billion. This size gap reflects fundamentally different business portfolios — SPGI operates five diversified divisions, several of which are oligopolistic (credit ratings, benchmark indices), while FDS competes in a more fragmented marketplace for investment workflow and analytics tools.
On profitability, SPGI holds a clear edge. Its operating margin of approximately 39% and free cash flow margin near 37% outstrip FDS's corresponding figures of roughly 31% and 25%, respectively. This profitability gap is driven by SPGI's ratings business, which requires relatively low incremental capital to service additional issuance volume, and its indices segment, where licensing fees scale efficiently with assets under management. FDS, by contrast, must continually invest in content, technology infrastructure, and sales headcount to sustain growth.
From a valuation standpoint, the picture reverses. FDS trades at a P/E ratio in the mid-to-high teens, a significant discount to SPGI's multiple in the mid-to-upper 20s. This gap partially reflects the market's assessment of each company's competitive moat durability. FDS also offers a higher dividend yield — roughly 1.8–2.0% versus SPGI's approximately 0.9% — although SPGI's dividend has grown steadily and the lower yield is partly a function of its richer valuation.
Recent momentum has converged: both stocks have rallied approximately 13–14% over the past month, suggesting that the headwinds that pressured the financial data sector may be easing. However, the quality of that rebound differs. SPGI's recovery has been accompanied by fundamental stability across its ratings and indices businesses, while FDS's bounce has been more valuation-driven, following a steeper decline. Volatility data supports this distinction — FDS exhibits higher price volatility (approximately 17%) compared to SPGI (roughly 13%), meaning FDS shares swing more dramatically in both directions.
Growth profiles also diverge. SPGI's revenue growth, though decelerating, remains in the 7–8% range, underpinned by structural tailwinds in passive investing and global debt issuance. FDS's organic growth has settled in the 5–6% range, with the company working to prove that AI will expand rather than contract its addressable market. Risk factors for both include the pace of technological disruption and macroeconomic sensitivity, but SPGI's regulatory-embedded franchises provide a layer of insulation that FDS's more discretionary analytics tools do not enjoy.
Tickeron AI Verdict
Based on observable market patterns and relative positioning, Tickeron's AI-driven analysis would likely favor SPGI in the current environment — though with important nuance. SPGI's advantages in trend consistency, lower volatility, and wider competitive moats suggest a more stable foundation for sustained outperformance. The company's diversified revenue streams, anchored by the regulatory-essential ratings and indices businesses, provide resilience that FDS's more concentrated analytics model cannot fully replicate. That said, FDS's dramatically compressed valuation and recent momentum recovery could make it attractive for tactical strategies focused on mean reversion. The AI's probabilistic assessment would likely emphasize that SPGI offers a higher-confidence trend profile for trend-following bots, while FDS may appeal to value-oriented or dip-buying algorithms that specialize in identifying oversold conditions in fundamentally sound businesses. As always, the suitability of either stock depends on the specific strategy, timeframe, and risk parameters of the individual trading approach.
Disclaimer
The information on this webpage is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice, a recommendation to purchase or sell any security, or an offer or solicitation related to investments. It does not consider your personal financial situation, goals, or risk profile, and all investing carries inherent risks, including the possibility of losing your entire investment. For more details, please review our full disclaimer.
To compare these two companies we present long-term analysis, their fundamental ratings and make comparative short-term technical analysis which are presented below. The conclusion is FDS is a Hold and SPGI is a Hold.
Long-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a long-term outlook for a ticker by using Fundamental Analysis (FA) ratings. The rating of 1 to 100, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, is divided into thirds. The first third (a green rating of 1-33) indicates that the ticker is undervalued; the second third (a grey number between 34 and 66) means that the ticker is valued fairly; and the last third (red number of 67 to 100) reflects that the ticker is undervalued. We use an FA Score to show how many ratings show the ticker to be undervalued (green) or overvalued (red).
FDS’s FA Score shows that 1 FA rating(s) are green whileSPGI’s FA Score has 0 green FA rating(s).
- FDS’s FA Score: 1 green, 4 red.
- SPGI’s FA Score: 0 green, 5 red.
Short-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a short-term outlook for a ticker by using Technical Analysis (TA) indicators. We use Odds of Success as the percentage of outcomes which confirm successful trade signals in the past.
If the Odds of Success (the likelihood of the continuation of a trend) for each indicator are greater than 50%, then the generated signal is confirmed. A green percentage from 90% to 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bullish trend. A red percentage from 90% - 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bearish trend. All grey percentages are below 50% and are considered not to confirm the trend signal.
FDS’s TA Score shows that 6 TA indicator(s) are bullish while SPGI’s TA Score has 6 bullish TA indicator(s).
- FDS’s TA Score: 6 bullish, 3 bearish.
- SPGI’s TA Score: 6 bullish, 4 bearish.
Price Growth
FDS (@Financial Publishing/Services) experienced а +4.44% price change this week, while SPGI (@Financial Publishing/Services) price change was +4.72% for the same time period.
The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the @Financial Publishing/Services industry was +1.17%. For the same industry, the average monthly price growth was +7.41%, and the average quarterly price growth was -8.01%.
Reported Earning Dates
FDS is expected to report earnings on Sep 17, 2026.
SPGI is expected to report earnings on Jul 28, 2026.
Industries' Descriptions
@Financial Publishing/Services (+1.17% weekly)The financial publishing /services sector includes companies that provide informational products and services that are of value to investors, financial/analytics professionals and other interested readers. The products include real-time stock quotes, financial news and analyses. Think S&P Global, Inc., Moody`s Corporation, Thomson-Reuters Corp and IHS Markit Ltd. Information is critical in making financial or investment decisions, and what makes this industry’s output relevant at all times, across various economic conditions.
| FDS | SPGI | FDS / SPGI | |
| Capitalization | 9.18B | 133B | 7% |
| EBITDA | 956M | 8.14B | 12% |
| Gain YTD | -10.167 | -8.342 | 122% |
| P/E Ratio | 17.00 | 28.52 | 60% |
| Revenue | 2.44B | 15.7B | 16% |
| Total Cash | 304M | N/A | - |
| Total Debt | 1.57B | 13.8B | 11% |
FDS | SPGI | ||
|---|---|---|---|
OUTLOOK RATING 1..100 | 50 | 50 | |
VALUATION overvalued / fair valued / undervalued 1..100 | 17 Undervalued | 78 Overvalued | |
PROFIT vs RISK RATING 1..100 | 100 | 69 | |
SMR RATING 1..100 | 35 | 58 | |
PRICE GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 52 | 49 | |
P/E GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 92 | 82 | |
SEASONALITY SCORE 1..100 | 50 | 50 |
Tickeron ratings are formulated such that a rating of 1 designates the most successful stocks in a given industry, while a rating of 100 points to the least successful stocks for that industry.
FDS's Valuation (17) in the Financial Publishing Or Services industry is somewhat better than the same rating for SPGI (78). This means that FDS’s stock grew somewhat faster than SPGI’s over the last 12 months.
SPGI's Profit vs Risk Rating (69) in the Financial Publishing Or Services industry is in the same range as FDS (100). This means that SPGI’s stock grew similarly to FDS’s over the last 12 months.
FDS's SMR Rating (35) in the Financial Publishing Or Services industry is in the same range as SPGI (58). This means that FDS’s stock grew similarly to SPGI’s over the last 12 months.
SPGI's Price Growth Rating (49) in the Financial Publishing Or Services industry is in the same range as FDS (52). This means that SPGI’s stock grew similarly to FDS’s over the last 12 months.
SPGI's P/E Growth Rating (82) in the Financial Publishing Or Services industry is in the same range as FDS (92). This means that SPGI’s stock grew similarly to FDS’s over the last 12 months.
| FDS | SPGI | |
|---|---|---|
| RSI ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 63% | 4 days ago 43% |
| Stochastic ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 64% | 4 days ago 48% |
| Momentum ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 53% | 4 days ago 52% |
| MACD ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 58% | 4 days ago 63% |
| TrendWeek ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 57% | 4 days ago 55% |
| TrendMonth ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 56% | 4 days ago 51% |
| Advances ODDS (%) | 8 days ago 58% | 5 days ago 54% |
| Declines ODDS (%) | 6 days ago 55% | 13 days ago 53% |
| BollingerBands ODDS (%) | N/A | 4 days ago 56% |
| Aroon ODDS (%) | 4 days ago 79% | 4 days ago 59% |
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FDS and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, FDS has been closely correlated with MORN. These tickers have moved in lockstep 78% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is a high statistical probability that if FDS jumps, then MORN could also see price increases.
| Ticker / NAME | Correlation To FDS | 1D Price Change % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FDS | 100% | -1.67% | ||
| MORN - FDS | 78% Closely correlated | -0.82% | ||
| SPGI - FDS | 64% Loosely correlated | -1.43% | ||
| MCO - FDS | 61% Loosely correlated | -1.57% | ||
| MSCI - FDS | 51% Loosely correlated | -1.35% | ||
| HLI - FDS | 49% Loosely correlated | -2.30% | ||
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SPGI and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, SPGI has been closely correlated with MCO. These tickers have moved in lockstep 88% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is a high statistical probability that if SPGI jumps, then MCO could also see price increases.
| Ticker / NAME | Correlation To SPGI | 1D Price Change % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPGI | 100% | -1.43% | ||
| MCO - SPGI | 88% Closely correlated | -1.57% | ||
| NDAQ - SPGI | 68% Closely correlated | -2.77% | ||
| MSCI - SPGI | 64% Loosely correlated | -1.35% | ||
| FDS - SPGI | 64% Loosely correlated | -1.67% | ||
| MORN - SPGI | 63% Loosely correlated | -0.82% | ||
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