Earnings Update: MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Just Reported Its Third-Quarter Results And Analysts Are Updating Their Forecasts

Last week, you might have seen that MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) released its third-quarter result to the market. The early response was not positive, with shares down 3.0% to US$571 in the past week. MSCI reported US$725m in revenue, roughly in line with analyst forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) of US$3.57 beat expectations, being 2.8% higher than what the analysts expected. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on MSCI after the latest results.

View our latest analysis for MSCI

Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for MSCI from 14 analysts is for revenues of US$3.13b in 2025. If met, it would imply a meaningful 12% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to accumulate 3.2% to US$15.88. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$3.11b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$15.79 in 2025. The consensus analysts don't seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there's been no major change to their estimates.

The analysts reconfirmed their price target of US$638, showing that the business is executing well and in line with expectations. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. The most optimistic MSCI analyst has a price target of US$700 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$510. This is a very narrow spread of estimates, implying either that MSCI is an easy company to value, or - more likely - the analysts are relying heavily on some key assumptions.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the MSCI's past performance and to peers in the same industry. It's pretty clear that there is an expectation that MSCI's revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 9.1% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 12% over the past five years. Juxtapose this against the other companies in the industry with analyst coverage, which are forecast to grow their revenues (in aggregate) 6.0% per year. So it's pretty clear that, while MSCI's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's still expected to grow faster than the industry itself.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. Happily, there were no major changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$638, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Keeping that in mind, we still think that the longer term trajectory of the business is much more important for investors to consider. We have estimates - from multiple MSCI analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

However, before you get too enthused, we've discovered 2 warning signs for MSCI that you should be aware of.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.