MSCI reported Q1 FY2026 revenue of $850.8M (+14.1%) and GAAP diluted EPS of $5.53 (+49.1%). But an $88M discrete tax benefit from internal legal-entity restructuring drove the effective tax rate to (4.3)%, inflating the headline. Adjusted EPS grew 13.8%. Meanwhile total debt reached $6.45B — 3.2x EBITDA, the top of management's 3.0-3.5x target range — after funding ~$2.9B of buybacks over five quarters. This analysis unpacks the tax mechanic, the asset-based-fee mix shift, and the leverage ceiling that now constrains further buyback pace.
S&P Global posted a 42.2% operating margin in FY2025 — the highest since the IHS Markit merger. Two weeks later, the stock dropped 18%. The 10-K reveals that two definitively non-recurring tailwinds — $133M in merger cost elimination and a $273M disposition gain — account for approximately 270 of the 290-basis-point margin expansion, while $1,064M in annual deal amortization suppresses a 50% adjusted margin by 8 percentage points. Ratings generates 45.6% of segment profit at a 63.8% margin, powered by a 28% billed issuance surge that may not sustain. The market repriced growth from 14% to 9-10% — directionally correct, but the underlying quality may be mispriced from both directions.
Our analysis of 2,100+ SEC filers reveals that cost of revenue reporting in XBRL is even more fragmented than revenue. Only 38% of filers use the most common element (CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold), 36% have no standard COGS element at all, and ExxonMobil's $199.5 billion in crude oil purchases is invisible to standard extraction — producing a misleading 100% gross margin.
Seven years after ASC 606 became effective, our analysis of 2,100+ SEC filers shows revenue reporting in XBRL remains deeply fragmented. Only 46% of filers use the ASC 606 element exclusively, 25% still use legacy Revenues, and 11% have no standard revenue element at all.
Developer tutorials that ship working code. Each lab walks you through building a real financial tool with the MetricDuck API — from stock comparison tools to valuation alerts. Clone the repo, run the code, extend it for your own projects.