FDS

Business profile & competitive position

FactSet Research Systems Inc. operates in the Financial Services sector, specifically the Financial - Data & Stock Exchanges industry. In practice, that means it runs a global financial digital platform and sells enterprise solutions that deliver data, analytics, and AI-powered workflow tools to investment professionals. Revenue is overwhelmingly subscription-based, coming from multi-asset class data and solutions delivered through workstations, portfolio analytics, enterprise data feeds, APIs, and managed services.

The company’s most recent filings frame its real competitive position in terms of client depth rather than market-share rhetoric. As of August 31, 2025, FactSet served 8,996 clients and 237,324 users. Buy-side clients accounted for roughly 82% of Organic ASV, while sell-side clients made up about 18%. Retention metrics are correspondingly sticky: ASV retention was above 95%, and client retention was 91%. FactSet’s net margin of 21.5% and ROE of 25.6% are consistent with a business that can price recurring services efficiently, retain institutional buyers, and deploy equity capital with above-average returns. Those figures do not prove an unassailable moat, but they do fit the profile of a data-and-workflow provider whose users face high switching costs once their research, risk, and portfolio systems are embedded in the platform.

Financial posture

At a market capitalization of $11.5 billion and a trailing P/E of 22.1, FactSet is priced more like a high-quality cash-flow compounder than a hyper-growth disruptor. The 21.5% net margin and 25.6% ROE underscore profitability strength relative to many broader financial-services peers, while a beta of 0.77 indicates that the stock has historically moved with less volatility than the overall market. That combination—consistent profitability, solid capital returns on equity, and below-average market sensitivity—tends to attract investors looking for defensive exposure to capital-markets activity without direct exposure to a bank balance sheet or trading revenue.

The current snapshot shows shares at $323.39, with the 50-day EMA at $288.38 and RSI at 65.9. The gap between price and the moving average, together with an RSI near overbought territory, is a mechanical observation rather than a directional signal; it simply tells readers that the stock has outperformed its short-term trend recently.

Strategic priorities & outlook

FactSet’s most recent 10-K filing outlines three operational priorities that management expects to drive the next phase of growth.

First, the company aims to expand data offerings and delivery capabilities, including a continued push into cloud delivery and a broader catalog spanning proprietary, third-party, industry, real-time, fund, and sustainable-finance data. Second, it wants to embed itself more deeply in client workflows by extending buy-side front-office capabilities, expanding advisor-desktop tools for prospecting and digital reporting, and automating research, financial modeling, and pitch creation. Third, it is investing in AI through the FactSet AI Blueprint, embedding artificial intelligence and natural language processing across workflows to improve productivity and accelerate decision-making.

Geographically, revenue is still Americas-centric: the Americas generated 65% of fiscal 2025 revenues, EMEA 25%, and Asia Pacific 10%. Leadership also transitioned on September 8, 2025, when Sanoke Viswanathan became Chief Executive Officer, succeeding F. Philip Snow, who remained in an advisory role through December 31, 2025. For investors, that means the strategic agenda above is being executed under a new CEO, while the underlying subscription model remains anchored by the same high-retention client base.

Macro & geopolitical exposure

Because FactSet sits in the Financial - Data & Stock Exchanges industry, its exposures line up with the broader data-and-market-infrastructure ecosystem rather than with consumer or industrial cycles. Revenue depends on capital-markets activity, asset-management AUM flows, and the willingness of buy-side and sell-side institutions to maintain research and data budgets. When market volatility rises or institutional assets under management decline, clients may delay contract renewals or cut seats, pressuring subscription growth.

Other relevant macro factors include regulation of market data, data privacy, and cross-border data flows; the company delivers datasets globally and must navigate jurisdictional licensing and compliance costs. Currency is also material: 35% of fiscal 2025 revenue came from outside the Americas, so dollar strength can translate into reported headwinds and dollar weakness into tailwinds. Finally, AI governance, cybersecurity, and competitive pressure from both incumbent providers and newer AI-enabled platforms are industry-level risks that can affect pricing power and growth rates.

Recent developments

News flow around FactSet in mid-to-late October 2026 has focused on product expansion, analyst views, and dividend-quality recognition.

On October 20, 2026, FactSet announced a partnership with Nasdaq Private Market to bring greater transparency to private-markets data, according to globenewswire.com. The deal aligns with the company’s stated priority to expand its data catalog and could deepen its presence in an area—private markets—that remains less standardized than public-market data.

On October 16, 2026, defenseworld.net noted that sell-side analysts had a consensus target price of $271.79 for the stock. That figure is a third-party estimate, not a recommendation from this analysis, but it does provide context for how the Street has been positioned recently relative to the current $323.39 price.

On October 12, 2026, zacks.com published an article discussing why investors might consider holding FDS in their portfolios, and on October 11, 2026, seekingalpha.com listed FactSet among its top 50 high-quality dividend growth stocks for October 2026. These headlines highlight the stock’s recurring-revenue, cash-flow-oriented profile, even though they do not constitute investment advice.

Earnings behavior & post-earnings drift

Over the last eight reported quarters, FactSet has beaten earnings estimates six times, for a beat rate of 75%. The average earnings surprise across those quarters has been 1.7%, suggesting the company typically delivers modest upside to the market’s real expectation rather than dramatic blowouts. The average five-day price move in the trading days after earnings has been 2.29%, classified as an upward drift.

The four most recent quarters illustrate both the consistency and the variability. For the quarter ended September 30, 2026, FactSet reported EPS of $4.52 against an estimate of $4.35, a 3.9% beat; the stock rose 2.84% the next day and 1.05% over the following five sessions. For the July 1, 2026 quarter, EPS came in at $4.53 versus $4.45, a 1.8% beat, producing a 1.85% next-day gain but a -1.49% five-day drift. The March 31, 2026 quarter also beat by 1.8% ($4.46 vs. $4.38) and saw stronger follow-through: +3.63% the next day and +2.76% over five days. The strongest post-earnings reaction occurred on December 18, 2025, when a 3.4% beat ($4.51 vs. $4.36) drove a 5.54% one-day pop and a 6.85% gain over the next five trading days.

FactSet’s next scheduled earnings release is December 17, 2026, before the market open, with a consensus EPS estimate of $5.04. Investors weighing the upcoming report should note that beats have been the base case, but the magnitude and five-day follow-through have varied, meaning the market’s real expectation may already be reflected in the current price action.

For a deeper dive into how institutional analysts are currently modeling FactSet, including consensus estimates, recommendation distributions, and forward-looking commentary, readers should review the full institutional verdict on the ticker page.