SPGI
S&P Global
Platform / Network
★ Quality 85/100Price today
$443.51
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See what it is worthcharlieapp.co
A monopoly position
This company has a competitive advantage so strong that its rivals find it practically impossible to replicate.
What this business is made of
The business
It grades the world's debt; nobody issues bonds without its stamp.
S&P Global rates debt (corporate and government bonds), sells financial data by subscription, and licenses indexes like the S&P 500. It charges for every rating, for every subscription to its data terminals, and takes a slice of every fund that tracks its indexes. It brought in $15.3B in 2025.
In ratings it's a duopoly with Moody's, shielded by regulation: to issue large debt you need its signature. The S&P 500 index is the standard everyone copies, so it collects licensing fees without lifting a finger. Decades of historical data a rival can't recreate overnight.
Revenue history
From $8.3B to $15.3B in 4 years — nearly 1.8x its size. Selling more and more is the base of everything else.
Where each $100 of sales goes
Revenue $15.3B · FY2025
Of every $100 in sales, $71 goes to costs and operations; $29 is left as net profit (29% margin).
Catalysts and risks
The boom in indexed money (funds that replicate the S&P 500) fattens licensing fees year after year.
A recovery in bond issuance when rates drop boosts ratings revenue.
Expansion into private credit and AI data (Kensho, Capital IQ) opens new subscription markets.
The ratings business rises and falls with debt issuance; high rates freeze it.
The duopoly with Moody's draws recurring regulatory scrutiny over conflicts of interest.
Debt of $13.1B against $1.7B in cash: comfortable today, uncomfortable if credit dries up.
Charlie's note
“A business that collects a toll on the planet's debt and indexes, with a 70% gross margin and growing at 17%, deserves to be paid up for. At 32x free cash flow they're not giving anything away, but a toll with no real competition rarely gets given away.”
Analysis · July 2026
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