FDS

Business profile & competitive position

FactSet Research Systems Inc. sits in the Financial Services sector under the Financial - Data & Stock Exchanges industry. It operates a global financial digital platform that delivers multi-asset-class data, analytics, and AI-powered tools to investment professionals. The revenue engine is subscription-based: clients buy workstations, portfolio analytics, enterprise data solutions, APIs, data feeds, and managed services that span the full investment lifecycle.

The stickiness of that model shows up in the operating metrics. As of August 31, 2025, FactSet reported 8,996 clients and 237,324 users. Buy-side clients drove roughly 82% of Organic ASV, while sell-side clients contributed approximately 18%. Retention figures back the “entrenched workflow” thesis: ASV retention was above 95% and overall client retention was 91%. That kind of recurring-installation base is reinforced by a trailing net margin of 23.2% and return on equity of 26.6% — both well above the average for many capital-light service businesses and suggest real pricing power and capital efficiency, not just scale for scale’s sake.

Geography is unbalanced: the Americas generated 65% of fiscal 2025 revenues, EMEA 25%, and Asia Pacific 10%. That concentration is worth tracking, but it does not change the core profile: FactSet is a high-retention data-and-analytics subscription business with a deeply embedded user base.

Financial posture

At the time of this snapshot, FactSet carried a market capitalization of $10.8 billion, traded at a trailing P/E of 19.9, and carried a low beta of 0.69. The valuation is above broad-market average levels but sits in the same neighborhood as many recurring-revenue business-service names once profitability is factored in.

The profitability backdrop is the headline. A 23.2% net margin and 26.6% ROE imply the company converts pricing power into bottom-line results and reinvests with discipline. The stock’s recent price of $304.61 also sits materially above its 50-day EMA of $265.39, and its RSI was 67.4, which simply tells you the name has been strong rather than whether it is cheap or expensive.

Strategic priorities & outlook

FactSet’s own 10-K filing frames the near-term playbook around three operational priorities:

• Expand data offerings and delivery capabilities: that means cloud delivery and building out a broader catalog that includes proprietary, third-party, industry, real-time, fund, and sustainable-finance data.
• Embed deeper in client workflows: the company wants to extend buy-side front-office capabilities, grow advisor-desktop prospecting and digital-reporting tools, and automate parts of research, financial modeling, and pitch creation.
• Innovate with AI: through the FactSet AI Blueprint, the company is embedding artificial intelligence and natural-language processing across workflows to speed client decision-making.

There was also a leadership transition effective September 8, 2025, when Sanoke Viswanathan became CEO, succeeding F. Philip Snow, who remained in an advisory role through December 31, 2025. A new CEO often reframes priorities slightly, but the 10-K priorities are explicitly built around retention, cloud delivery, workflow depth, and AI — not a fundamental business-model shift.

Macro & geopolitical exposure

Because FactSet is classified in Financial - Data & Stock Exchanges, its exposures are financial and regulatory rather than physical. The business is tied to capital-markets activity: when asset managers, hedge funds, wealth advisors, and investment banks are active, demand for differentiated data, analytics, and reporting tools rises. Conversely, prolonged downturns in AUM, trading volumes, underwriting, or M&A can pressure seats and subscription tiers.

Regulation is a constant factor for this industry. Rules around market data licensing, financial reporting, ESG disclosures, data privacy (GDPR in Europe, state-level privacy laws in the U.S.), and emerging AI governance all shape product development and compliance costs. Currency risk is also real: roughly 35% of revenue comes from outside the Americas, so dollar strength or weakness can move translated results. Interest-rate cycles and institutional budget tightening are additional demand-side variables to monitor, even though the high retention rate provides a cushion.

Recent developments

Four headlines from late August 2026 give a quick window into current sentiment:

• August 24, 2026 — defenseworld.net: BlackRock Inc. initiated a new $657.66 million investment in FactSet Research Systems.
• August 21, 2026 — zacks.com: “FactSet Stock Jumps 58% in 6 Months: Here’s What You Should Know.”
• August 20, 2026 — defenseworld.net: Aurora Investment Counsel made a new $1.98 million investment in FDS.
• August 13, 2026 — gurufocus.com: FactSet was up 3.3% and “still undervalued,” with a GF Score of 90/100.

Taken together, the news points to institutional accumulation and strong price momentum. The GF Score and BlackRock position are attention-grabbing, but they are sentiment and flow indicators, not a guarantee of future returns. The price action — up nearly 60% over six months — lines up with the technical picture of a stock trading well above its 50-day average and an RSI near 67.

Earnings behavior & post-earnings drift

Over the last eight reported quarters, FactSet has beaten the official earnings estimate 6 out of 8 times, for a beat rate of 75%. The average earnings surprise was a modest 1.6%, and the average five-day post-earnings move was +0.59%, classified as a small upward drift.

The more instructive pattern is in the recent quarter-by-quarter detail:

• July 1, 2026: EPS of $4.53 vs. estimate $4.45 (+1.8% beat). The stock rose 1.85% the next session but gave it back, slipping -1.49% over the following five days.
• March 31, 2026: EPS of $4.46 vs. estimate $4.38 (+1.8% beat). The stock gained 3.63% the next day and added 2.76% over the next five sessions.
• December 18, 2025: EPS of $4.51 vs. estimate $4.36 (+3.4% beat). The reaction was stronger: +5.54% the next day and +6.85% over five days.
• September 18, 2025: EPS of $4.05 vs. estimate $4.13 (-1.9% miss). The stock fell 4.01% the next day and drifted 5.77% lower over the next five sessions.

The takeaway from this history is that a beat does not mechanically produce a tradable follow-through. Two of the three most recent beat quarters enjoyed sustained momentum, but the July 2026 beat saw the post-earnings move unwind within five trading days. The miss, by contrast, was punished in both the overnight and multi-day windows. With the next report scheduled for September 17, 2026, before the open, the official consensus EPS is $4.34. The market’s real expectation may differ from that published number, but the historical record suggests FactSet tends to deliver small positive surprises and that the stock’s post-event path is more mixed than a simple “beat = pop and hold” narrative would imply.

For a more complete picture — including how major institutions rate the growth path, risks, and competitive dynamics for FDS — it is worth reviewing the full institutional verdict rather than relying on headline numbers alone.