FactSet Research Systems Inc. · FDS · FY2026 Q3 · Calendar Q3 2026

FactSet Q3 FY2026: AI-Driven ASV Growth Accelerates as Margins Absorb Strategic Investment

FactSet's Q3 FY2026 results show organic ASV growth accelerating to 7.1% ($2.48B), up from 6.7% in Q2, driven by broad AI adoption and a shift toward longer-term enterprise agreements. Adjusted EPS of $4.53 beat consensus by 2.0% and revenue of $622.9M exceeded estimates by 0.8%. The stock surged 6.9% on the report with continued positive drift of 7.1% on nearly 2x baseline volume. Management maintained full-year guidance rather than raising again, signaling confidence in the trajectory while absorbing 300 bps of deliberate margin compression from investments in AI infrastructure, talent, and token costs. The central question is whether near-term margin pressure translates into durable revenue growth as AI-related products scale and the company approaches its Investor Day with a medium-term plan.

Reported Before market openNYSEFinancial Services $9.35B market cap
100quality score

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.

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS $4.53 Consensus $4
EPS surprise +2.0% Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue $622.9M Consensus $617.9M
Revenue surprise +0.8% Reported versus consensus

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. 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 $4.44 Q3 '26 actual $4.53, beat Q4 '26 estimate $4.34 Q1 '27 estimate $4.94 Q2 '27 estimate $4.90 Q3 '27 estimate $4.93
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusHold29 ratings
Bullish26.9%
Neutral2069.0%
Bearish724.1%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$263.2Current
$210Low
$341.93Average
$521High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 31, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

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

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Barclays Underweight UnderweightMaintainJul 6, 2026
Wolfe Research Underperform UnderperformMaintainJul 2, 2026
Wells Fargo Underweight UnderweightMaintainJul 2, 2026
UBS Buy BuyMaintainJul 2, 2026
RBC Capital Sector Perform Sector PerformMaintainJul 2, 2026
Morgan Stanley Equal Weight Equal WeightMaintainJul 2, 2026
Jefferies Hold HoldMaintainJul 2, 2026
Evercore ISI Group In Line In LineMaintainJul 2, 2026
Show 21 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $263.2. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
BarclaysAnalyst unavailable$216$250.09 -17.9%Jul 6, 2026
JefferiesAnalyst unavailable$253$249.66 -3.9%Jul 2, 2026
Deutsche BankAnalyst unavailable$280$247.25 +6.4%Jul 2, 2026
UBSAlex Kramm$340$247.47 +29.2%Jul 2, 2026
Evercore ISIAnalyst unavailable$275$247.99 +4.5%Jul 2, 2026
BMO CapitalAnalyst unavailable$275$245.55 +4.5%Jul 2, 2026
UBSAnalyst unavailable$230$245.55 -12.6%Jul 2, 2026
Wells FargoAnalyst unavailable$210$245.55 -20.2%Jul 2, 2026
Wolfe ResearchAnalyst unavailable$240$245.55 -8.8%Jul 1, 2026
Stifel NicolausAnalyst unavailable$254$245.55 -3.5%Jul 1, 2026
See 53 more

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Market reaction

prior-close to event-session close
Stock move +6.7% Event window
SPY move -0.1% Same window
Abnormal move +6.9% Stock minus SPY
Volume 2.0× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift +7.1% Up to 20 sessions
FDSSPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

ASV growth accelerated from 6.7% in Q2 to 7.1% in Q3, the fifth consecutive quarter of sequential improvement. AI-related SKUs contributed over 10% of ASV growth. Coding agents now author 27% of committed code, up from roughly 20% in Q2, and token usage grew five-fold quarter over quarter. Enterprise contract term lengths increased approximately 30% with no price compression. Adjusted operating margin compressed 300 bps to 34% due to targeted investments including performance-based compensation, token costs, and a 60 bps FX hedge drag. Free cash flow rose 11% to $254M and share repurchases continued. The market responded with a 6.9% abnormal return on the report date, followed by 7.1% subsequent drift, on approximately 2x baseline volume. Analyst price targets as of July 31, 2026 show a consensus of $254.36 versus a current price of $263.43, suggesting the stock has moved above the mean target following the earnings reaction.

Guidance delta

Management maintained full-year FY2026 guidance for ASV, revenue, and EPS, following the raise issued in Q2 across all three metrics. The maintained stance — rather than a further raise — reflects deliberate near-term investment spending and conservative revenue-recognition timing for AI-related bookings. The prior quarter had raised guidance for ASV, revenue, and EPS while leaving operating-margin guidance unchanged.

Key takeaways

  • Organic ASV growth accelerated to 7.1% to $2.48B, the fifth straight quarter of sequential improvement.
  • Adjusted EPS of $4.53 beat consensus by 2.0%; revenue of $622.9M beat by 0.8%.
  • AI-related SKUs contributed over 10% of ASV growth; coding agents now author 27% of committed code, up from ~20% in Q2.
  • Enterprise contract terms extended ~30% on average with no price compression, improving revenue durability.
  • Adjusted operating margin compressed 300 bps to 34% as management invested deliberately in AI, talent, and infrastructure.
  • Free cash flow grew 11% to $254M; share repurchases continued supporting shareholder returns.

Management priorities

  • Launch next-generation AI agents on the Google Gemini Enterprise platform.
  • Expand the FactSet Intelligence suite across more client workflows.
  • Deepen cloud integrations with Snowflake, Databricks, AWS, and Google Cloud for data mesh capabilities.
  • Continue product innovation in deep sector content, private-capital data, and real-time pricing.
  • Present medium-term business plan at the upcoming Investor Day.

Related earnings events

Financial Services

Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-07-01T19:05:11.946915+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-31T01:23:16.182055+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-31T19:21:13.262165+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-31T19:21:13.259338+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 . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.