S&P Global Explores Potential Spinoff of Financial Data and AI Units — Update

By Rob Curran

S&P Global unveiled plans for a potential spinoff of its financial data operations, which includes its artificial-intelligence division.

The company said Tuesday a separation of its Capital IQ unit along with the majority of Kensho Data & Platforms, could help these businesses grow.

"The businesses that are part of the strategic review are strong and have significant opportunities ahead of them as technology changes how customers access, analyze, and use information," President and Chief Executive Martina Cheung said.

Shares were recently up 3.7% at $467.

S&P Global purchased Kensho in 2018 for about $550 million in a push into the AI space. Kensho was founded in 2013 and its staff consisted of former employees of Alphabet, Meta's Facebook and Twitter, now known as X, a company spokesman previously said.

S&P Global said it plans to retain its RatingsDirect, RatingsXpress and Enterprise Solutions businesses.

In July, S&P Global announced plans to reorganize its market intelligence unit into two focused verticals, naming Kensho and Enterprise Solutions, to assist with AI needs.

For the full year, the company raised its forecast for adjusted earnings to between $17.70 and $17.95 a share, up from a prior projection of $17.50 to $17.75 a share. Revenue is now anticipated to grow between 7.4% and 8.4%, better than a previous outlook of 5.9% to 7.9%.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect adjusted earnings of $17.85 a share and revenue of $14.84 billion for the year.

S&P Global expects GAAP earnings at $16.25 to $16.50 a share, compared with a previous estimated range of $16.35 to $16.60 a share for the year.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the firm posted net income of $1.24 billion, or $4.25 a share, up from $1.18 billion, or $3.86 or a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-off items, S&P Global logged adjusted earnings $4.58 of a share, handily beating the mean analyst estimate of $4.43 a share, based on FactSet.

Revenue rose 7% to $3.68 billion, exceeding the average analyst expectation of $3.64 billion. A modest 2% increase in ratings revenue to $1.27 billion was offset by robust 20% growth in indices revenue to $554 million.

Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2026 10:04 ET (14:04 GMT)