Valued at a market cap of $157.3 billion, S&P Global Inc. (SPGI) is a financial information and analytics company that provides credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity, and automotive markets. The New York-based company maintains major stock indices like the S&P 500, and delivers data-driven insights and analytics to investment professionals, corporations, and policymakers. 

Companies worth $10 billion or more are typically classified as “large-cap stocks,” and S&P Global fits the label perfectly, with its market cap exceeding this mark, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the financial data & stock exchanges industry. The company’s reputation, data expertise, and broad product offerings make it a critical enabler of informed financial decision-making across global markets. Its strengths lie in market leadership, a diversified business model, global reach, and a strong subscription-based revenue stream. 

This financial services giant has dipped 6% from its 52-week high of $545.39, reached on Feb. 14. Moreover, it has declined 3.9% over the past three months, underperforming the broader S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) marginal fall over the same time frame.

However, in the longer term, SPGI has surged 19% over the past 52 weeks, outpacing SPX’s 11.4% rise over the same time frame. Moreover, on a YTD basis, shares of SPGI are up 3%, compared to SPX’s slight uptick.

To confirm its bullish trend, SPGI has been trading above its 200-day moving average since early May, and has remained above its 50-day moving average since late April. 

On Apr. 29, shares of SPGI surged 2.6% after its impressive Q1 earnings release. The company’s revenue grew 8.2% year-over-year to $3.8 billion, while its adjusted EPS of $4.37 improved 9% from the year-ago quarter. Robust performance across all of its reportable segments, along with a 100-basis point expansion in adjusted operating profit margin, supported the results. Looking ahead to fiscal 2025, S&P Global expects revenue to grow between 4% and 6%, and forecasts adjusted EPS in the range of $16.75 to $17.25.

SPGI has outperformed its rival, Moody's Corporation (MCO), which gained 18.1% over the past 52 weeks and 1.3% on a YTD basis. 

Despite SPGI’s recent underperformance relative to the broader market, analysts remain highly optimistic about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” from the 24 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $585.57 suggests a 14.2% premium to its current price levels.