FactSet Research Systems Inc. Q2 FY2026 earnings call

• ASV growth accelerated for fourth consecutive quarter, with growth in all geographies and across retention, expansion, and new business. Adjusted operating margin 35%, adjusted diluted EPS $4.46 up 4% year over year. • Customer wins illustrate breadth and depth of data and product capabilities, including expansions in various client areas. • Made progress on three priorities: driving commercial excellence (rolling out new pricing/packaging, infusing AI in sales life cycle, realigning incentives), delivering productivity improvements (consolidating technology, converging on standard tools, using AI in data operations and client support), and solidifying long-term strategy. • Strategy focuses on being leading data and workflow infrastructure provider for AI-enabled institutional finance, with data having key differentiators like depth, cohesiveness, comparability, traceability, quality. • Partnerships for growth, such as with Snowflake, Databricks, Anthropic, and Finster, are important components.

ASV growth accelerated in Q2 to $2.45 billion with 6.7% growth, accelerating across all geographies. Adjusted operating margin was 35%. Data Solutions grew by double digits across all firm types. In The Americas, organic ASV grew 7%; in EMEA, 4%; in Asia Pacific, 10%. Institutional buy side had 5% organic ASV growth, wealth maintained 10% growth, dealmakers grew 8%, market infrastructure grew 8%. Added 98 net new clients, user base over 241,000, solid retention rates at 91% for clients and above 95% for ASV.

• Raised ASV, revenue, and EPS outlook ranges for fiscal 2026. • Maintaining guidance range for operating margin as balancing investments and productivity improvements. • First half performance led to raising outlooks, with sustained momentum across client types and geographies.

Q: If transitioning workstation ASV into Data Solutions ASV with usage-based pricing, what would it look like?

A: Seeing strong growth across channels, working with customers on pricing and packaging, striking enterprise contracts with flexibility.

Q: Color on sales pipeline, demand environment, and sales cycle in geopolitical context?

A: Broad-based demand, strong pipeline, sales cycle not changed, macro conditions not affecting, traction across client groups, AI solutions sales cycle faster.

Q: Double click on middle office and trading solutions growing strong?

A: These are critical for large buy-side clients, include portfolio analytics, performance analytics, attribution, risk management, with growth in multi-asset class portfolios and managed services.

Q: What changed in last couple of quarters for reacceleration?

A: Targeted investments in data (real-time data, AI investments, content beyond real time) are clicking, commercial excellence efforts, open architecture coming into its own in AI environment.

Q: Change in thinking about expenses through the year?

A: Expect heavier investment second half, disciplined in spending based on ROI, productivity gains offsetting investments to improve earnings.

Q: Disadvantages as legacy provider and addressability?

A: Viewed as market opportunities, strong in partnerships with content providers and AI natives, open architecture makes us best positioned for integrated solutions.

Q: Runway on further cost savings?

A: Already captured over 50% of 100 basis points of productivity improvements, early days of AI programs, scope to expand next year.

Q: Elaboration on new pricing and product packaging initiatives and U.S. price performance?

A: Thorough review of pricing and packaging, annual price increase in The Americas contributed more this year, supported by value delivered.

Q: Users per client escalating?

A: Caution not to read too much into client count, user count driven by wealth and other segments.

Q: Pace or degree of AI product adoption in wealth channel?

A: Gradual pickup, trailing investment banking and other areas, but increasing with solutions like intelligent prospecting.

Q: Vulnerability to white-collar workforce pullback?

A: Agentic workflows becoming high grade, well positioned to capture upside, working with clients on rewriting contracts for flexibility.