FactSet Research Systems Inc. · FDS · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q1 2026

FactSet raises FY2026 outlook on accelerating ASV growth after strong Q2 beat

FactSet's Q2 FY2026 results support the case that sustained earnings growth and resilient demand can carry the stock: ASV growth accelerated for a fourth consecutive quarter to 6.7%, EPS of $4.46 beat consensus, and management raised full-year ASV, revenue and EPS guidance. The evidence points to durable demand driven by AI-enhanced data adoption, longer-dated enterprise contracts and productivity-led margin expansion rather than cyclical tailwinds. Risks center on pacing of AI uptake and second-half investment spend.

Reported Before market openNYSEFinancial Services $9.65B market cap
100quality score

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $4.46 Consensus $4.38
EPS surprise +1.8% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $611.0M Consensus $604.8M
Revenue surprise +1.0% Reported versus consensus

Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move +6.1% Event window
SPY move +2.9% Same window
Abnormal move +3.2% Stock minus SPY
Volume 2.4× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift +7.1% Up to 20 sessions
FDSSPY benchmark

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What changed

FactSet beat Q2 estimates (EPS $4.46 vs. $4.38; revenue $611.0M vs. $604.8M) and raised FY2026 guidance for ASV, revenue and EPS, while leaving operating-margin guidance unchanged. ASV growth improved to 6.7%, a fourth straight quarterly acceleration, supported by AI product adoption, longer-term enterprise contracts and new partnerships with Snowflake, Databricks, Anthropic and OpenAI. Management said AI-driven automation in engineering and data operations has already delivered over half of the targeted 100 bps margin improvement.

Guidance delta

Raised. Management increased FY2026 guidance for ASV, revenue and EPS, while keeping operating-margin guidance unchanged. Management reaffirmed a disciplined investment pace and expects continued AI-driven productivity gains to capture the remaining roughly 50 bps of the targeted margin improvement.

Key takeaways

  • Q2 EPS of $4.46 beat consensus of $4.38 (+1.8%); revenue of $611.0M beat the $604.8M estimate (+1.0%).
  • ASV growth accelerated to 6.7% (to $2.45B), a fourth straight quarter of faster growth.
  • Management raised FY2026 guidance for ASV, revenue and EPS; operating-margin guidance held unchanged.
  • Productivity and AI automation have already delivered over half of the targeted 100 bps margin improvement.
  • Capital returns continued: $163M of share repurchases in Q2, with $700M remaining under the $1B authorization.

Management priorities

  • Scale AI integration across data operations, engineering and client workflows.
  • Roll out new pricing, packaging and longer-term enterprise contracts (extended >30% on average).
  • Expand partnerships with cloud and AI providers (Snowflake, Databricks, Anthropic, OpenAI, Finster) and the MCP Server data API platform.
  • Grow real-time exchange data feeds to open new total addressable markets.
  • Drive targeted productivity gains to capture the remaining ~50 bps of margin improvement.

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Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
FDS EPS earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 4 future estimate-only quarters. Q1 '24 estimate $4.11 Q1 '24 actual $4.12, match Q2 '24 estimate $3.88 Q2 '24 actual $4.22, beat Q3 '24 estimate $3.90 Q3 '24 actual $4.37, beat Q4 '24 estimate $3.62 Q4 '24 actual $3.74, beat Q3 '25 estimate $4.30 Q3 '25 actual $4.27, miss Q4 '25 estimate $4.13 Q4 '25 actual $4.05, miss Q1 '26 estimate $4.36 Q1 '26 actual $4.51, beat Q2 '26 estimate $4.38 Q2 '26 actual $4.46, beat Q3 '26 estimate $4.45 Q3 '26 actual $4.53, beat Q4 '26 estimate $4.35 Q1 '27 estimate $4.94 Q2 '27 estimate $4.91 Q3 '27 estimate $4.94
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusHold30 ratings
Bullish310.0%
Neutral2066.7%
Bearish723.3%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$273.08Current
$210Low
$343.63Average
$521High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Sep 26, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Deutsche Bank Hold HoldMaintainSep 11, 2026
Morgan Stanley Equal Weight Equal WeightMaintainSep 10, 2026
William Blair Outperform Market PerformUpgradeSep 8, 2026
Barclays Underweight UnderweightMaintainSep 8, 2026
RBC Capital Sector Perform Sector PerformMaintainAug 27, 2026
Show 25 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $273.08. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
Deutsche BankAnalyst unavailable$299$259.61 +9.5%Sep 11, 2026
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$300$280.88 +9.9%Sep 10, 2026
UBSAnalyst unavailable$304$302.07 +11.3%Aug 27, 2026
BarclaysAnalyst unavailable$216$250.09 -20.9%Jul 6, 2026
JefferiesAnalyst unavailable$253$249.66 -7.4%Jul 2, 2026
See 61 more

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Company context

Snapshot as of publication

FactSet Research Systems Inc. is a financial intelligence firm providing a comprehensive suite of integrated data and analytical software. The company serves the global investment community, with its operations spanning the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. FactSet delivers critical insights and information through specialized workflow solutions covering research, analytics, and trading, complemented by its content, technology platforms, and wealth management resources. Its diverse clientele includes portfolio managers, investment banks, asset managers, wealth advisors, corporate entities, and various other financial sector organizations. FactSet was established in 1978 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Historical context

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Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-05-11T10:29:34.698584+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-09-25T23:21:09.167861+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-09-25T23:21:09.164976+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated · As of 2026-09-25. For educational purposes only; not investment advice.