MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) announced its fiscal 2025 third-quarter results on Tuesday.
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The company’s total revenue reached $793.4 million, representing a 9.5% year-over-year increase, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $794.8 million. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were $4.47, also surpassing the analyst consensus of $4.37.
As of September 30, 2025, MSCI’s total run rate, the annualized value of recurring revenues, grew by 10.1% year-over-year to $3.19 billion. The organic recurring subscription run rate saw a 7.4% increase. The client retention rate was 94.7%, a slight decrease from 94.2% in the previous year.
For the third quarter, recurring subscription revenue increased by 7.9%, while asset-based fees rose by 17.1%.
Segment Performance
MSCI’s Index operating revenues increased 11.4% year-over-year to $451.2 million, driven by higher recurring subscription revenues and Asset-Based fees.
Analytics operating revenues rose 5.7% year-over-year to $182.2 million, primarily due to increased recurring subscription revenues from Equity and Multi-Asset Class Analytics products.
Sustainability and Climate operating revenues (formerly ESG and Climate operating revenues) increased 7.7% year-over-year to $90.1 million, driven by growth in Ratings and Climate products.
Finally, All Other – private assets operating revenues improved by 9.7% year-over-year to $70.0 million, driven by growth from recurring subscriptions in Private Capital Solutions related to Total Plan Portfolio Management and Private Capital Intel products.
Margins And Cash Flow
The operating margin improved from 55.4% to 56.4%, and the adjusted EBITDA margin increased from 62.2% to 62.3%.
MSCI generated $423.3 million in free cash flow during the quarter and held $400.1 million in cash and equivalents as of September 30, 2025.
The company invested $26.1 million in capital expenditures for the quarter.
Capital Allocation
MSCI’s total share repurchases during the quarter were $1.25 billion. On October 25, 2025, the Board of Directors authorized a new stock repurchase program for the repurchase of up to an aggregate of $3.0 billion of MSCI’s common stock.
On October 27, 2025, the MSCI Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $1.80 per share for the fourth quarter of 2025, payable on November 28, 2025, to shareholders of record on November 14, 2025.
MSCI Chairman and CEO Henry A. Fernandez said the company delivered strong third-quarter financial and sales results, achieving record recurring sales in its Index and Analytics businesses, as well as record asset-based-fee growth fueled by $6.4 trillion in assets under management linked to its indexes.
FY25 Outlook
MSCI raised its operating expenses outlook to $1.415 billion- $1.445 billion (up from its prior forecast of $1.405 billion-$1.445 billion), capex of $120 million-$130 million (up from its previous outlook of $115-$125 million), and free cash flow of $1.410 billion-$1.470 billion (up from its prior guidance of $1.40 billion-$1.46 billion).
MSCI Price Action: MSCI shares were up 6.76% at $583.80 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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