S&P Global NYSE: SPGI reported first-quarter 2026 results featuring higher revenue, margin expansion, and double-digit adjusted earnings growth, even as executives described a macro environment shaped by heightened geopolitical disruption and volatile commodity and equity markets.
Quarterly performance and capital returns
President and CEO Martina Cheung said the company was “pleased with the results” in Q1, citing revenue growth of 10% year-over-year, or 9% on an organic constant-currency basis. Subscription product revenue increased 6% year-over-year, while the company’s “market-driven businesses” in Ratings and Indices showed what Cheung called “remarkable resilience.”
On profitability, Cheung said S&P Global delivered 140 basis points of margin expansion on a trailing 12-month basis and increased adjusted diluted EPS 14% year-over-year in the quarter. CFO Eric Aboaf added that adjusted operating margin expanded 100 basis points year-over-year to 51.8%, with adjusted operating profit up 12%. Aboaf said expense discipline tightened as macro risk rose in late February and into March, contributing to better-than-anticipated Q1 margins “in every division.”
The company returned capital in the quarter, with Cheung noting $1 billion was returned to shareholders through share repurchases, in addition to dividends.
Macro backdrop: Iran conflict, volatility, and issuance trends
Management repeatedly pointed to macro uncertainty, with Cheung saying the conflict in Iran “has shocked energy markets and supply chains,” contributing to higher energy and commodity prices and elevated volatility. She added that even if conflicts are resolved quickly, supply chains could take time to normalize. Cheung also said private credit has faced “increased scrutiny, wider spreads, and elevated redemptions,” though S&P Global expects strong private markets growth over the medium term and sees a need for greater transparency through data and benchmarks.
Despite turbulence, Cheung said issuance proved resilient, with issuance up 14% year-over-year in Q1, “primarily driven by strength in investment grade,” including issuance tied to hyperscaler investment in AI infrastructure. She said bank loan volumes declined at a high-teen rate due to a difficult prior-year comparison, while spreads widened slightly but remained below historical norms.
Aboaf said the company’s guidance assumes the Iran situation stabilizes by the end of Q2, while acknowledging the risk of a protracted conflict. The company’s outlook includes assumptions of 3.2% global GDP growth, 2.2% U.S. GDP growth, and 3.2% U.S. CPI growth, along with near-term suppression in energy client demand due to uncertainty.
Segment results: Growth in Ratings and Indices; Energy mixed; Mobility separation planning
Market Intelligence revenue increased 8% (6% organic constant-currency). Aboaf said subscription revenue rose 6% on both a reported and organic basis, driven by renewals and net sales, though growth included a 50-basis-point headwind from revenue recognition timing expected to reverse in the back half of the year. One-time and volume-driven revenue grew 18% in aggregate. Data, analytics and insights revenue rose 11% (including six points from the With Intelligence acquisition), while Enterprise Solutions reported revenue increased 3% but delivered 14% organic growth after the divestitures of EDM and thinkFolio in mid-January. Market Intelligence operating margin expanded 80 basis points to 33.6%.
Ratings revenue rose 13%, exceeding internal expectations, according to Aboaf. Transactional revenue increased 15% on strength in investment grade, supported by “a number of large hyperscale and M&A transactions,” while bank loans were weaker due to a high-teen decline in build issuance. Non-transactional revenue grew 11%, driven primarily by higher annual fees and CRISIL revenue. Aboaf also pointed to growth in Issuer Credit Ratings and Rating Evaluation Services. Ratings operating margin expanded 160 basis points to 67.8%.
S&P Global Energy revenue grew 7%, with Aboaf citing record CERAWeek performance and a spike in volume-driven transactional activity. However, he said the conflict weighed on subscription revenue and could pressure growth in coming quarters, while sanctions remained a headwind. By business line, Energy Resources and Price Assessments grew 7% and 6%, while Advisory and Transactional Services rose 15% on conference and training strength. Global Trading Services grew close to 30% amid volatility. Upstream Data & Insights declined 5% due to the absence of a prior-year one-time fee. Energy margin expanded 120 basis points to 49.3%.
S&P Dow Jones Indices revenue increased 17%, with asset-linked fees up 18% on equity market appreciation and net inflows, though Aboaf noted a mix shift toward lower-priced indices during volatility that reduced average realized price. Exchange-traded derivatives revenue rose 18%, driven by volumes “particularly in SPX.” Data and custom subscriptions increased 12%, marking a third straight quarter of double-digit growth. Operating margin expanded 90 basis points to 73.8%.
Mobility revenue grew 8%, with dealer revenue up 9%, manufacturing up 5%, and financials & other up 8%. Mobility’s operating margin expanded 150 basis points to 40%. Aboaf said the company remains on track to separate Mobility mid-2026, expects to file a Form 10 publicly this quarter, and said Mobility will host an investor day in New York on May 12. He also said the company plans to launch a public debt offering for Mobility this quarter, targeting an investment-grade rating, and emphasized that Mobility will remain fully consolidated until the separation is completed.
AI initiatives and early commercial signals
Cheung said customers are increasingly seeking S&P Global’s data and benchmarks amid market volatility, while also looking to “unlock the potential of AI.” She highlighted adoption of tools such as ChatIQ and Document Intelligence within S&P Capital IQ Pro, saying more than a third of Capital IQ Pro users engage with the AI features launched.
Cheung said the company is also expanding access to its data via standard protocols such as Model Context Protocol (MCP). She said the number of customers under contract or in trials for Kensho LLM-ready APIs has grown to more than 300, and that Q1 API call volume was “more than 5x” the prior quarter, with volumes doubling from February to March.
In Q&A, Cheung told Morgan Stanley’s Toni Kaplan the company intends to build MCP applications, adding that S&P Global is focused on combining “standards, the business logic, as well as the tools” alongside data. She described early customer behavior around paying for AI-ready access, including an example where clients were willing to pay “in the range of 35%-45%” as a renewal increase to obtain AI-ready formats.
Aboaf also connected usage to economics, saying customers using AI tools showed higher retention: “In MI, we’re seeing a 200 basis points higher retention rates. In energy, over 500 basis points of higher retention rates,” which he attributed to increased value from usage.
Guidance and capital allocation updates
Aboaf said S&P Global reiterated its full-year guidance for organic constant-currency revenue growth of 6% to 8% and maintained expectations for 50 to 75 basis points of margin expansion in 2026, excluding the impact of “Astra.” Adjusted EPS guidance was also unchanged, with slightly higher expected interest expense offset by a lower share count due to additional repurchases.
The main guidance change was in Energy, where the company lowered expected organic constant-currency revenue growth to 4.5% to 6%, “1 percentage point lower than the previous guidance,” reflecting the Iran conflict’s impact on demand and supply-side disruption. Aboaf said the company expects Q2 Energy growth to fall slightly below the full-year range before re-accelerating in the second half.
On buybacks, Aboaf said S&P Global views the “current share price” as an opportunity to increase repurchases from an expected 85% of adjusted free cash flow to “at least 100%,” or roughly $4.5 billion for the year. He added that leverage is expected to rise due to the planned Mobility separation, but said Mobility is expected to issue about $2 billion in debt in conjunction with the spin, with proceeds funding a cash payment to S&P Global for potential incremental repurchases and some debt reduction.
About S&P Global NYSE: SPGI
S&P Global is a leading provider of financial information, analytics and benchmark indices that serve investors, issuers, corporations and public institutions worldwide. The company operates through well-known businesses that include credit ratings, market intelligence and index licensing, as well as commodity and energy information services. Its products and services are used to assess creditworthiness, inform investment decisions, construct and track benchmark portfolios, and support risk and commodity market analysis.
S&P Global Ratings provides independent credit ratings, research and data used by fixed income investors and capital market participants to evaluate issuer and transaction risk.
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