S&P Global's Share Count Shrinks Nearly 4% While Short-Term Debt Climbs To $2.4 Billion
Buybacks of $4.1 billion in nine months lifted per-share earnings, while short-term debt rose to $2,448 million from $718 million at year-end.
S&P Global, which provides benchmarks, data and analytics to capital, energy and commodity markets, cut its diluted share count to 291.6 million in the third quarter, from 304.5 million a year earlier, its 10-Q shows. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations rose 26% to $4.45 from $3.54, while short-term debt climbed to $2,448 million.
Buybacks do part of the work
Income from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders was $1,298 million, against $1,078 million a year earlier. The company's earnings release said the 26% EPS gain came from a 20% rise in net income and a 4% drop in diluted shares.
For the first nine months, S&P Global bought back 8.5 million shares for $4.1 billion, against 4.3 million shares for $2.5 billion in the same stretch of 2025. Of the 2025 repurchase program, 23.4 million shares remained at September 30. The prior quarter's 10-Q, per the draft's figure, showed 28.4 million left at June 30.
The $2.6 billion accelerated repurchase, begun July 29, finished October 26, after the quarter closed. It retired 6.3 million shares at an average $412.99 each, per the filing as printed. The company said in its earnings release that it still expects to repurchase more than $7 billion of shares in 2026.
Short-term debt more than triples
Short-term debt stood at $2,448 million at September 30, against $718 million at the end of 2025. Long-term debt fell to $10,614 million from $12,370 million, and total debt was roughly flat at $13,062 million against $13,088 million.
Commercial paper outstanding was $700 million, down from $715 million. Interest expense for the quarter was $87 million, up from $79 million, which the filing attributes partly to commercial paper borrowing used to help finance the repurchase agreements.
Retained income fell to $16,481 million from $23,666 million at year-end. The statement of equity shows a $9,753 million reduction for the separation of Mobility Global.
A smaller company after Mobility
S&P Global completed the spin-off of Mobility Global on July 1, 2026. Mobility was still inside consolidated results in the prior quarter's 10-Q, so this quarter's year-over-year comparisons are against a smaller business.
Third-quarter revenue rose 7% to $3,678 million. Operating profit rose 26% to $1,956 million, helped by a $200 million gain from selling Energy's subsurface and engineering software unit to SLB. Excluding that and other items, the filing puts the operating profit increase at 8%.
The company also announced a strategic review of Capital IQ and associated data businesses, including a potential separation. It completed the acquisition of OpenZeppelin on October 26.
The company's earnings release puts the 2026 buyback target above $7 billion, against the $4.1 billion spent through September.
Sources
- 10-Q Filing — S&P Global (SPGI) — SEC EDGAR
- 10-Q Filing — S&P Global (SPGI), Q2 FY2026 filed 2026-07-28 (comparison basis) — SEC EDGAR
- 8-K Filing — S&P Global, filed 2026-10-23 (Items 8.01, 9.01) — SEC EDGAR
- Earnings release (8-K Item 2.02, spgi3q2026-earningsrelease.htm) — S&P Global, filed 2026-10-27 — SEC EDGAR
- S&P Global Beats Earnings Estimates. A Major Shake-Up Could Be Coming. — Barron's
- S&P Global (SPGI) Reports Q3 Earnings: What Key Metrics Have to Say — Yahoo Finance
- S&P Global (SPGI) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates — Yahoo Finance
- S&P Global Reports Third Quarter Results; Announces Strategic Review for Capital IQ and Associated Data Businesses - S&P Global — investor.spglobal.com
- S&P Global: Q3 Earnings Snapshot — Associated Press
