S&P Global’s (SPGI) Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Rise Y/Y

S&P Global Inc. SPGI reported mixed fourth-quarter results, wherein earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate but revenues beat the same.

Adjusted EPS of $3.13 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.6% but increased 23.2% year over year. Revenues of $3.2 billion surpassed the consensus estimate by 0.5% and improved 7.3% year over year, backed by strong performances in all divisions.

S&P Global Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

S&P Global Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | S&P Global Inc. Quote

Quarter Details

Revenues from Marketing Intelligence were $1.1 billion, which increased 9% from the year-ago figure but missed our estimate by a slight margin. Ratings revenues grew 19% to $838 million and exceeded our estimate of 775.9. Revenues from Commodity Insights improved 10%, thus taking the figure to $497 million and beating our estimate of $488.9 million.

Revenues from the Mobility and Indices segment saw an uptick of 9% and 5%, thus amounting to $377 million and $360 million, respectively. Mobility revenues beat our estimated $375.7 million and Indices revenues surpassed our estimated $356.7 million.

Adjusted operating profit was $1.4 billion, up 15% year over year. Adjusted operating profit margin was 44.1%, 290 basis points more than the year-ago reported figure.

S&P Global exited the fourth quarter with cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash of $1.3 billion compared with $1.6 billion at the end of the prior quarter. Long-term debt was $11.4 billion, flat with the previous quarter’s figure.

SPGI generated $1.3 billion in cash from operating activities in the quarter. Capital expenditures were $48 million. Free cash flow was $1.2 billion. The company returned $283 million in the form of dividends.

Currently, S&P Global carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

2024 Outlook

Adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of $13.75-$14, below the current Zacks Consensus Estimate of 14.49. Revenue growth is expected to be 5.5-7.5%. Capital expenditures are expected to be between $165 and $175 million.

Recent Earnings Snapshots

Robert Half RHI reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter 2023 results.

Quarterly earnings of 83 cents per share beat the consensus mark by 1.2% but declined 39.4% year over year. RHI’s revenues of $1.5 billion beat the consensus mark by a slight margin but decreased 14.7% year over year.

Aptiv APTV reported mixed fourth-quarter 2023 results, with earnings beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate but revenues missing the same.

Adjusted earnings of $1.4 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.5% and increased 10.2% year over year. APTV’s revenues of $4.9 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.5% but increased 6% year over year.

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