FDS
Beat the Street, but not the mood
FactSet just did the classic “good quarter, bad reaction” routine. The financial data and analytics shop posted Q3 revenue of $622.9 million, up 6.4% year over year and above estimates, while adjusted EPS of $4.53 also cleared Wall Street’s bar.
The catch? Margins took a step back
Here’s where the party got less fun: adjusted operating margin fell to 34% from 36.8% a year ago. Management pointed to higher compensation and tech-related costs, which is corporate-speak for “we spent more to keep the machine humming.”
That softer margin picture, plus the company’s decision to merely reaffirm fiscal 2026 guidance, left investors with limited upside to grab onto. Shares fell 1.69% to $226.20 in premarket trading, because markets love a beat almost as much as they love a reason to worry.
The long game is still intact
FactSet did toss in a few investor-friendly nuggets:
- Annual Subscription Value rose to $2.48 billion, from $2.34 billion a year earlier
- Organic ASV climbed $35.4 million in the quarter
- The company returned $243.4 million to shareholders via buybacks and dividends
- It raised its quarterly dividend to $1.16 per share, marking 27 straight years of growth on a split-adjusted basis
And the AI angle is still very much part of the story. FactSet is expanding its Google Cloud partnership, folding Gemini into FactSet Workstation and building AI agents for deal advisory, portfolio ops, and corporate finance. In other words: the company is trying to make its software feel less like a spreadsheet graveyard and more like a smart assistant.
Big picture
Investors wanted a stronger margin story or a more upbeat guide. Instead, they got a solid beat wrapped in cautious optimism. For FactSet, the business is still growing — but the market is making clear that growth without margin expansion is a harder sell.