MSCI Inc. (MSCI) — Fundamental Analysis & Key Financial Ratios

Kaplio's reading: MSCI Inc.

Updated on October 21, 2026 · accounts published on October 20, 2026

A highly profitable, cash-generative business with widening margins and negative equity

MSCI trades at a P/E of 32.2× over the last 12 months, 29 % below its ten-year median of 45.6× but 147 % above its sector median.

• Is MSCI expensive or cheap? MSCI has traded at a lower P/E only 5 % of the past decade, yet it sits 147 % above its sector median.
• How is the business doing? The operating margin reached 55.7 % over the last 12 months, well above the 48.1 % average of fiscal 2014-2025.
• Is it a scalable, lightly leveraged business? Free cash flow was 128.8 % of net income in fiscal 2025, well above the 90 % bar for financial services.
• How strong is the balance sheet? Debt to equity is −2.28 over the last 12 months, which signals negative equity. The dividend has risen 11 years running.
• What to expect from the next earnings? Analysts expect EPS of $5.12 when MSCI reports on January 27, 2027, after beats in 7 of the last 8 quarters.

Is MSCI expensive or cheap?

Over the last 12 months MSCI trades at a P/E of 32.2×. That is 29 % below its ten-year median of 45.6× and close to the decade low of 27.9×. Its multiple was lower in only 5 % of the weeks in the past ten years. Against financial services peers the picture reverses. The sector median is 13.0×, so MSCI carries a 147 % premium. The earnings yield is 2.8 % and the free cash flow yield 3.8 % over the last 12 months. Against its own history the stock looks cheap, while the sector comparison shows the market still pricing in a far better business than average.

How is the business doing?

Over the last 12 months revenue grew 9.7 % and EPS 10.7 %, so profits are keeping pace with sales. The operating margin of 55.7 % is above the 48.1 % average of fiscal 2014-2025 and above the 54.7 % of fiscal 2025, which means margins are still widening. The net margin is 40.3 %. The longer record is stronger than the latest year. Revenue per share compounded at 14.9 % a year over fiscal 2020-2025, more than twice the 6 % the sector treats as healthy.

Is it a scalable, lightly leveraged business?

Asset managers, brokers, exchanges and fintech firms are not banks, so the useful tests are revenue growth, margins and how much profit turns into cash. MSCI passes the main ones. Its operating margin was 54.7 % in fiscal 2025, against a healthy floor of 30 %. Revenue per share grew well above 6 % a year, and free cash flow was 128.8 % of net income, where 90 % is the bar. The one failure is an ROE of −49.7 % over the last 12 months. It comes from negative equity rather than losses, since the net margin is 40.3 %.

How strong is the balance sheet?

A debt-to-equity ratio of −2.28 over the last 12 months technically clears the sector's 0.5 ceiling. But the negative sign means shareholders' equity is below zero, so the ratio cannot be read as low leverage. This is the main caveat for investors, because book-based measures such as ROE and debt to equity stop being meaningful. The cash side is more reassuring. MSCI has raised its dividend per share for 11 consecutive fiscal years through 2025, and it paid out 46 % of earnings in fiscal 2025. The yield is 1.3 % over the last 12 months.

What to expect from the next earnings?

On October 20, 2026 MSCI reported EPS of $5.11 against $5.03 expected, a 1.6 % beat and its seventh in the last eight quarters. The latest beat was modest, so the track record says more about predictability than about big surprises. For the quarter due on January 27, 2027, analysts expect $5.12. The 2026 EPS consensus barely moved in the last 30 days, from $19.72 to $19.67 across 11 analysts, and revenue estimates also held steady. Of the 27 analysts covering the company, 19 recommend buying, 6 holding and 1 selling.

How this was prepared: the data comes from companies' official filings, collected by a professional provider, and from Kaplio's analysis engine (trailing-12-month ratios, 10 years of history and sector medians computed across US-listed companies). The text is written from that data alone, every figure is checked against it before publication, and it is reviewed when the company reports results. This is not investment advice.