MSCI revenue rises 12.4% from a year earlier to $892.0 million as asset-based fees climb 24.9%

MSCI reported third-quarter 2026 operating revenues of $892.0 million, up 12.4% from $793.4 million a year earlier, as asset-based fees tied to index-linked ETF assets rose 24.9% to $246.6 million. Adjusted earnings per share were $5.11, up 14.3% from a year earlier, and reported diluted EPS was $4.86, up 14.4%. Net income rose 7.9% from a year earlier to $351.0 million.

Index, the segment that houses MSCI's benchmark indexes, produced $532.6 million of third-quarter revenue, up 18.1%, and $412.4 million of adjusted EBITDA at a 77.4% margin, down from 77.6%. Asset-based fees did most of that work: they rose 24.9% from a year earlier to $246.6 million, or 27.65% of total company revenue, while recurring subscriptions grew 11.1% to $269.5 million. Assets in ETFs linked to MSCI equity indexes ended September at $2.91 trillion against $2.21 trillion a year earlier, and the period-end fee basis slipped to 2.28 basis points from 2.41.

Asset-based fees are charged on assets, not on contracts, so the same client base pays more when markets rise. MSCI attributed the increase in asset-based fees Run Rate primarily to higher assets under management in ETFs and non-ETF indexed funds linked to its indexes. With those fees at 27.65% of revenue, a market decline would take a larger bite out of the top line than the subscription book alone would.

Records in recurring sales do not reach every segment

Consolidated net new recurring subscription sales were $54.8 million, up 41.2% from $38.8 million, and total net sales rose 35.0% to $76.4 million. Henry A. Fernandez, chairman and chief executive, said in the release that MSCI delivered “our best-ever recurring net-new sales in Analytics and Private Capital Solutions, our best-ever Q3 recurring net-new sales in Index, and another record quarter for asset-based fees.” The segment detail shows where those records did not reach. Analytics revenue grew 4.8% to $191.0 million, but segment adjusted EBITDA fell to $85.7 million as adjusted EBITDA expenses rose 14.3%, and its margin narrowed to 44.9% from 49.4%. Sustainability and Climate recorded negative net new recurring subscription sales of $1.1 million against positive net new sales of $2.0 million a year earlier, while its retention rate fell to 91.0% from 93.6%.

Borrowing costs absorb the operating leverage

Operating income rose 12.2% to $502.1 million, but the operating margin slipped to 56.3% from 56.4%, and interest expense climbed to $74.8 million from $53.6 million, pushing other expense, net up 45.2% to $74.2 million. Net income therefore grew 7.9% from a year earlier, held back by the interest line. MSCI raised full-year interest expense guidance to $288 million to $291 million from $282 million to $286 million and narrowed the effective tax rate to 18.0% to 19.5% from 18.0% to 20.0%, leaving operating expense, adjusted EBITDA expense, capex and free cash flow guidance unchanged. Capex rose to $50.7 million and free cash flow fell 8.9% to $385.4 million from a year earlier. MSCI bought back $552.3 million of stock in the quarter at an average $562.92 a share and declared a $2.05 dividend for the fourth quarter, payable November 27.

The nine-month figures flatter reported growth in a way the quarter does not. Revenue rose 12.9% from a year earlier to $2.61 billion and reported diluted EPS rose 27.1% to $15.09, a figure that includes an $88 million legal-entity restructuring tax benefit worth $1.21 a share; adjusted EPS rose 15.5% to $14.59.

Debt inside target, expectations outside the document

MSCI filed the figures as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K on October 20. Total debt was $6.8 billion, or 3.2 times trailing adjusted EBITDA, inside the 3.0x to 3.5x range MSCI targets, against $261.0 million of cash. The release carries no analyst consensus and no share-price reaction, so nothing in it establishes whether the quarter beat or missed expectations, and its guidance is a full-year range that says nothing about the fourth quarter on its own. Acquisition costs are disclosed only as $6.1 million of adjusted EBITDA expenses and $1.9 million of intangible amortization from Compass, Vantager, PM Insights and First Street.

The next dated checkpoints are the earnings call at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on October 20 and the fourth-quarter dividend of $2.05 a share, payable November 27 to holders of record on November 13.