NYSE · Financial Services

MSCI Inc.

MSCI · Financial Data & Stock Exchanges

$571.47

▼ -2.96 (-0.52%)

Cached · 10 min

Overall Grade

Defensive

Enterprising

Profitability

A⤢

Gross Profit Margin 82.7%

Operating Margin 56.2%

Net Income Margin 39.4%

Fin. Health

F⤢

Years to Pay Off Debt 19.1 yrs

Working Capital vs Long-Term Debt -$6.5B

Working Capital -$170M

Valuation

D⤢

Price-to-Book N/A (neg. equity)

Cash Flow

A⤢

Free Cash Flow $326M

CapEx % of Net Income 13.0%

Owner Earnings $444M

Profitability

Gross Profit Margin 82.7%

Revenue minus cost of goods sold. Graham's ≥40% threshold identifies businesses with durable pricing power. Note: software and financial companies naturally exceed this; retailers and manufacturers rarely reach it due to their cost structures.

Operating Margin 56.2%

Profit after operating costs before interest and taxes. A consistent ≥15% operating margin signals a business with real competitive advantages. Capital-intensive industries (airlines, auto, commodities) rarely hit this threshold due to their structural cost base — compare within industry for context.

Net Income Margin 39.4%

Bottom-line profit as a percentage of revenue. The ≥20% target reflects Buffett's preference for highly profitable businesses. Financial engineering (buybacks, tax optimisation) can inflate this temporarily — look for consistency across multiple years rather than a single strong result.

Financial Health

Years to Pay Off Debt 19.1 yrs

Total Debt ÷ Net Income. Lower = stronger balance sheet. Important caveat: utilities, telecoms, REITs, and infrastructure companies carry large structural debt by design — their bond-like cash flows service it comfortably at ratios that would alarm Graham. Compare within sector.

Working Capital vs Long-Term Debt -$6.5B

Working Capital minus Long-Term Debt. Negative results are common and expected in capital-return-focused businesses like Apple, Domino's, and McDonald's — where aggressive buybacks and dividends intentionally reduce book equity. This does not indicate financial distress in high-FCF businesses.

Working Capital -$170M

Current Assets minus Current Liabilities. Negative working capital can be a deliberate efficiency strategy in businesses that collect cash before paying suppliers (retailers, fast food franchises, subscription businesses). Assess alongside free cash flow generation for full context.

Cash Flow

Free Cash Flow $326M

Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures. Buffett's most important metric — cash a business actually generates for its owners after maintaining and growing its asset base. Consistently positive FCF is one of the strongest indicators of a durable, well-run business regardless of accounting profits.

CapEx % of Net Income 13.0%

Capital expenditure as a share of net income. Low CapEx signals a capital-light business that doesn't need heavy reinvestment to sustain earnings — Buffett's ideal. High CapEx is structurally necessary in manufacturing, airlines, telecoms, and semiconductors. For these industries, a high reading reflects the business model, not poor management.

Owner Earnings $444M

Net Income + Depreciation & Amortisation − Capital Expenditures. Buffett's preferred measure of a company's true annual earning power — what could theoretically be distributed to owners without impairing the business. More reliable than reported EPS because it accounts for the capital cost of maintaining the business.

Defensive — Graham's strict criteria (P/B, P/E, dividends, stability) · Enterprising — Profitability & cash flow focused, accepts higher valuations for quality

About MSCI Inc.

MSCI Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides research-based data, analytics, and indexes, supported by advanced technology worldwide. The Index segment provides indexes for use in various areas of the investment process, including indexed financial products, such as ETFs, mutual funds, annuities, futures, options, structured products, and over-the-counter derivatives; performance benchmarking; portfolio construction and rebalancing; and asset allocation, as well as licenses GICS and GICS Direct. The Analytics segment offers risk management, performance attribution and portfolio management content, application, an integrated view of risk and return service, and an analysis of market, credit, liquidity, counterparty, and climate risk across asset classes; managed services, including consolidation of client portfolio data, review and reconciliation of input data and results, and customized reporting; and HedgePlatform to measure, evaluate, and monitor the risk of hedge fund investments. The Sustainability and Climate segment provides products and services that help institutional investors understand how ESG impacts the long-term risk and return of their portfolio and individual security-level investments; and data, ratings, research, and tools to assist investors navigate increasing regulation. The All Other Private Assets segment comprises private credit, real estate and infrastructure data, benchmarks, return-analytics, climate assessments and market insights; business intelligence to real estate owners, managers, developers, and brokers; and offers investment decision support tools for private capital. The Private Capital Solutions segment offers tools to help private asset investors across mission-critical workflows, such as sourcing terms and conditions, evaluating operating performance, managing risk and other activities supporting private capital investment. MSCI Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is based in New York, New York.

Market Data

Market Cap $41.5B

Enterprise Value $47.7B

P/E (TTM) 31.45

Dividend Yield 1.34%

Exchange NYSE

Key Margins

Gross Profit 82.7%

Operating Margin 56.2%

Net Margin 39.4%

Company Info

Sector Financial Services

Industry Financial Data & Stock Exchanges

Employees 6327

Country United States

Visit website

📖

Full Graham Analysis

Mr. Market is currently offering MSCI Inc. at $571.47.

The business passes only 1 of 6 of Graham's defensive criteria — well below his required standard.

Negative NCAV — liabilities exceed current assets. Common in capital-return businesses (buybacks, debt-funded dividends) and capital-intensive industries. Not automatically a warning sign..

Conclusion: By Graham's standards, this stock is speculative at its current price. The intelligent investor would look elsewhere or wait.

Showing Key Metrics

Income Highlights

Metric	Q2 2026	Q4 2025
Gross Profit %	82.7%▲	82.6%
Operating Margin %	56.2%▼	56.4%
Net Income %	39.4%▲	34.6%
Diluted EPS	4.69▲	3.81

Balance Sheet Highlights

Metric	Q2 2026	Q4 2025	Q4 2024
Total Assets	$5.6B	$5.7B	N/A
Total Debt	$6.5B▲	$6.3B•	N/A
Working Capital	-$170M▲	-$185M•	N/A
Years to Pay Debt	19.06	22.17	N/A

Cash Flow Highlights

Metric	Q2 2026	Q4 2025	Q4 2024
Free Cash Flow	$326M▼	$465M•	N/A
Owner Earnings	$444M	$377M	N/A
CapEx % of Net Income	13.0%	12.7%	N/A

Income Statement

	2026	2025
Tax Rate For Calcs	0	0
Normalized EBITDA	545,800	508,030
Net Income From Continuing Operation Net Minority Interest	342,000	284,669
Reconciled Depreciation	57,500	55,599
Reconciled Cost Of Revenue	142,400	136,164
EBITDA	545,800	508,030
EBIT	488,300	452,431
Net Interest Income	-68,500	-59,495
Interest Expense	71,000	63,593
Interest Income	2,500	4,098
Normalized Income	342,000	284,669
Net Income From Continuing And Discontinued Operation	342,000	284,669
Total Expenses	379,500	358,908
Total Operating Income As Reported	487,500	463,620
Diluted Average Shares	72,900	74,697
Basic Average Shares	72,800	74,561
Diluted EPS	0	0
Basic EPS	0	0
Diluted NI Availto Com Stockholders	342,000
Net Income Common Stockholders	342,000	284,669
Net Income	342,000	284,669
Net Income Including Noncontrolling Interests	342,000	284,669
Net Income Continuous Operations	342,000	284,669
Tax Provision	75,300	104,169
Pretax Income	417,300	388,838
Other Income Expense	-1,700	-15,287
Other Non Operating Income Expenses	-1,700	-15,287
Net Non Operating Interest Income Expense	-68,500	-59,495
Interest Expense Non Operating	71,000	63,593
Interest Income Non Operating	2,500	4,098
Operating Income	487,500	463,620
Operating Expense	229,600	215,527
Depreciation Amortization Depletion Income Statement	50,000	48,382
Depreciation And Amortization In Income Statement	50,000	48,382
Amortization	43,800	40,911
Amortization Of Intangibles Income Statement	43,800	40,911
Depreciation Income Statement	6,200	7,471
Research And Development	46,000	41,124
Selling General And Administration	133,600	126,021
Selling And Marketing Expense	87,400	83,056
General And Administrative Expense	46,200	42,965
Other Gand A	46,200	42,965
Gross Profit	717,100	679,147
Cost Of Revenue	149,900	143,381
Total Revenue	867,000	822,528
Operating Revenue	867,000	822,528

Balance Sheet

	2026	2025	2024
Treasury Shares Number		60,757
Ordinary Shares Number	72,700	73,563
Share Issued	72,700	134,320
Net Debt	6,027,700	5,690,621
Total Debt	6,519,300	6,309,817
Tangible Book Value	-6,519,600	-6,410,415
Invested Capital	3,690,900
Working Capital	-169,500	-184,944
Net Tangible Assets	-6,519,600	-6,410,415
Capital Lease Obligations	138,900	107,531
Common Stock Equity	-2,689,500	-2,654,540
Total Capitalization	3,690,900	3,547,746
Total Equity Gross Minority Interest	-2,689,500	-2,654,540
Stockholders Equity	-2,689,500	-2,654,540
Gains Losses Not Affecting Retained Earnings	-57,400	-51,569
Other Equity Adjustments	-57,400	-51,569
Treasury Stock	10,400,000	9,834,442
Retained Earnings	5,876,700	5,427,600
Additional Paid In Capital	1,889,900	1,802,528
Capital Stock	1,300	1,343
Common Stock	1,300	1,343
Total Liabilities Net Minority Interest	8,292,000	8,356,999
Total Non Current Liabilities Net Minority Interest	6,686,300	6,527,286
Other Non Current Liabilities	138,800	115,827
Non Current Deferred Liabilities	28,200	101,642
Non Current Deferred Taxes Liabilities	28,200	101,642
Long Term Debt And Capital Lease Obligation	6,519,300	6,309,817
Long Term Capital Lease Obligation	138,900	107,531
Long Term Debt	6,380,400	6,202,286
Current Liabilities	1,605,700	1,829,713
Current Deferred Liabilities	1,136,900	1,231,776
Current Deferred Revenue	1,136,900	1,231,776
Pensionand Other Post Retirement Benefit Plans Current	157,200	242,947
Payables And Accrued Expenses	311,600	354,990
Current Accrued Expenses	254,100	265,250
Payables	57,500	89,740
Total Tax Payable	40,300	74,401
Income Tax Payable	40,300	74,401
Accounts Payable	17,200	15,339
Total Assets	5,602,500	5,702,459
Total Non Current Assets	4,166,300	4,057,690
Other Non Current Assets	55,800	55,768
Non Current Deferred Assets	45,700	45,875
Non Current Deferred Taxes Assets	45,700	45,875
Goodwill And Other Intangible Assets	3,830,100	3,755,875
Other Intangible Assets	855,900	832,513
Goodwill	2,974,200	2,923,362
Net PPE	234,700	200,172
Accumulated Depreciation		-180,997	-179,905
Gross PPE	234,700	381,169
Leases		53,647	56,413
Construction In Progress		5,779	1,542
Other Properties	234,700	112,873
Machinery Furniture Equipment		208,870	192,835
Current Assets	1,436,200	1,644,769
Other Current Assets	91,400	73,444
Restricted Cash	3,700	3,667
Prepaid Assets	104,000	69,281
Receivables	884,400	986,712
Accounts Receivable	884,400	986,712
Allowance For Doubtful Accounts Receivable	-7,200	-6,421
Gross Accounts Receivable	891,600	993,133
Cash Cash Equivalents And Short Term Investments	352,700	511,665
Cash And Cash Equivalents	352,700	511,665

Cash Flow

	2026	2025	2024
Free Cash Flow	326,400	464,840
Repurchase Of Capital Stock	-168,400	-906,822
Repayment Of Debt	-225,000	-175,000
Issuance Of Debt	200,000	874,088
Capital Expenditure	-44,400	-36,290
Interest Paid Supplemental Data	58,100	51,585
Income Tax Paid Supplemental Data	147,700	66,085
End Cash Position	356,400	515,332
Beginning Cash Position	385,300	400,089
Effect Of Exchange Rate Changes	1,200	353
Changes In Cash	-30,100	114,890
Financing Cash Flow	-339,400	-349,790
Cash Flow From Continuing Financing Activities	-339,400	-349,790
Net Other Financing Charges	-9,000	-7,311
Proceeds From Stock Option Exercised	12,500	390
Cash Dividends Paid	-149,500	-135,135
Common Stock Dividend Paid	-149,500	-135,135
Net Common Stock Issuance	-168,400	-906,822
Common Stock Payments	-168,400	-906,822
Net Issuance Payments Of Debt	-25,000	699,088
Net Long Term Debt Issuance	-25,000	699,088
Long Term Debt Payments	-225,000	-175,000
Long Term Debt Issuance	200,000	874,088
Investing Cash Flow	-61,500	-36,450
Cash Flow From Continuing Investing Activities	-62,000	-36,450
Net Other Investing Changes		-160	-778
Net Business Purchase And Sale	-17,100	0
Purchase Of Business	-17,100	0
Capital Expenditure Reported	-44,400	-36,290
Operating Cash Flow	370,800	501,130
Cash Flow From Continuing Operating Activities	371,300	501,130
Change In Working Capital	-60,000	109,972
Change In Other Working Capital	-47,000	258,583
Change In Other Current Liabilities	-7,900	-4,182
Change In Other Current Assets	900	-92
Change In Payables And Accrued Expense	62,200	79,496
Change In Accrued Expense	77,200	83,376
Change In Payable	-15,000	-3,880
Change In Account Payable	1,400	-572
Change In Tax Payable	-16,400	-3,308
Change In Income Tax Payable	-16,400	-3,308
Change In Prepaid Assets	-65,800	19,706
Change In Receivables	-2,400	-243,539
Changes In Account Receivables	-2,400	-243,539
Other Non Cash Items	3,300	297
Stock Based Compensation	25,400	25,571
Deferred Tax	2,600	13,254
Deferred Income Tax	2,600	13,254
Depreciation Amortization Depletion	57,500	55,599
Depreciation And Amortization	57,500	55,599
Amortization Cash Flow	43,800	40,911
Amortization Of Intangibles	43,800	40,911
Depreciation	13,700	14,688
Net Income From Continuing Operations	342,000	284,669

📊 Quarterly mode — Graham Fair Value & 7 Criteria require annual data. Switch to Annual for full analysis.

Quarter vs Same Quarter Last Year

YoY strips seasonality

Revenue Growth (YoY)

Prior year: $773M ▲ $867M +12.2%

Revenue growth vs same quarter last year strips seasonality. Consistent double-digit growth is a Buffett hallmark.

Gross Margin

Prior year: 82.2% ▲ 82.7% +0.5pp

Buffett: consistent gross margin above 40% signals durable pricing power and competitive moat.

Operating Margin

Prior year: 63.1% ▲ 56.2% -6.9pp

Graham: operating margin reflects true business economics before financing. Trend matters as much as level.

Net Margin

Prior year: 39.3% ▲ 39.4% +0.1pp

Net margin can be distorted by one-time items, tax timing, or interest costs — compare to operating margin for signal quality.

Quarterly Health Checks

3 Graham/Buffett criteria that are valid and reliable on quarterly data

✅ Adequate Size

Graham required scale for resilience. Quarterly revenue × 4 gives an annualised proxy.

$867M/qtr (≈$3.5B ann.)

vs > $1.5B annualised revenue

❌ Financial Condition

Current assets vs current liabilities — a real-time liquidity snapshot. Valid and reliable on quarterly data.

0.89x current ratio

vs ≥ 2.0x

✅ Free Cash Flow

Buffett's most important single metric. A positive FCF quarter means the business generated real cash for owners after maintaining its asset base.

$326M

vs Positive

Operating Cash Flow

$371M

Latest quarter · Buffett's cash reality check

ROIC

9.6%

Based on latest annual operating income

Return on Invested Capital — Buffett's preferred measure for asset-light businesses. ROIC > 15% consistently signals a durable competitive advantage (moat). More meaningful than P/B for software, pharma, and consumer brand companies where most value is intangible and off-balance-sheet.

Market Cap / Net Assets

⚠ Negative Net Assets

Net Assets: -$2.7B

⚠ Negative Net Assets — total liabilities exceed total assets on paper. This is common in companies that aggressively return capital via buybacks and dividends (Apple, McDonald's, Domino's). It does not indicate insolvency if the business generates strong, consistent free cash flow. Focus on FCF and earnings power rather than balance sheet book value for these companies.

⚠️ Revenue grew vs prior year but operating margin contracted. Possible explanations: deliberate investment in growth (hiring, marketing, R&D), input cost inflation, or pricing pressure from competition. Buffett distinguishes between spending that builds moat vs. spending that doesn't.

Peers & Industry

No auto-detected peers for Financial Data & Stock Exchanges. You can manually compare MSCI against any stock using the Compare tool.

"The management of a business is its most important single factor — more important than market position, patents, or financial structure."

— Benjamin Graham

Capital Allocation & Alignment

Insider Ownership

3.59%

Moderate — some alignment with shareholders

Return on Assets (ROA)

6.1%

Strong — management uses assets efficiently

Share Buybacks (Latest Year)

$2.5B

Management is returning capital to shareholders via buybacks

Debt Trend YoY

-0.4% YoY

Debt is declining — management is deleveraging

Leadership Team

Henry Fernandez

Chairman, CEO & President

Age 67

Pay: $3,720,262

1.088% of net income

Andrew Craig Wiechmann

Chief Financial Officer

Age 45

Pay: $1,429,931

0.418% of net income

Jorge Mina

COO & Head of Analytics

Age 50

Top Institutional Holders

Institution	% Owned	Shares
Blackrock Inc.	7.90%	5,740,802
Vanguard Capital Management LLC	6.40%	4,653,076
Vanguard Portfolio Management LLC	5.54%	4,024,536
State Street Corporation	4.28%	3,114,932
BAMCO Inc.	3.71%	2,699,389
Morgan Stanley	3.09%	2,244,979
Geode Capital Management, LLC	2.75%	1,999,610
T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc.	2.07%	1,507,193

⚠️ Current ratio below 1 — liquidity risk

Risk Analysis

Beta (Market Risk)

1.22

Moderate volatility — moves slightly more than market

Short Interest

2.0% of float

Low short interest — market is not heavily bearish

Current Ratio

0.89x

Weak liquidity — current liabilities exceed current assets

52-Week Price Range

Low: $501.08 Current: $571.47 High: $644.77

Currently at 49% of 52-week range

MSCI Inc.

Metric Explanations

Full Graham Analysis

Income Highlights

Balance Sheet Highlights

Cash Flow Highlights

Quarter vs Same Quarter Last Year

Quarterly Health Checks

Operating Cash Flow

ROIC

Market Cap / Net Assets

Peers & Industry

Capital Allocation & Alignment

Leadership Team

Top Institutional Holders

Risk Analysis